Toro conference called off
Aug 30, 2016
The conference is to be held annually as a pre-event for the empango celebrations
The much anticipated Toro Kingdom conference has been called off and postponed to a yet unconfirmed date.
The office of the Prime Minister together with other stakeholders from Toro had already commenced preparations for the first ever historical conference in Toro that had been slated for the 15th and 16thSeptember.
A resolution to call off the conference was reached at during a high level meeting that attended by members of the Toro elders' forum, officials from the kingdom and Members of Parliament from the region.
The closed door meeting that lasted for about an hour was held at the district chairperson's boardroom at Kitumba East division in Fort Portal Municipality.
Beatrice Kiraso the spokesperson of the conference said that the conference has been postponed for about two or three months ahead.
"Today's meeting that was chaired by Prof. Edward Rugumayo resolved that the conference takes place in about two to three months' time. This will allow us the organizers to mobilize both the resources and all the people of Toro at different levels" Kiraso told New Vision after the closed door meeting.
She disclosed that another high level meeting will reconvene on 18th September to discuss the venue of the conference and to select topics that will be discussed.
"The conference will address so many development related issues that have for long been at heart of Toro. It will bring people of different back grounds and will be a good rallying point and will promote unity" she said.
Alex Ruhunda the Fort Portal municipality member of parliament who also doubles as the chairperson organizing committee for the conference told the New Vision on phone that the conference was pushed ahead because most people have been confusing it with King Oyo's 21 coronation which is due for 20th September locally known as empango.
"People have been mixing empango celebrations with the Toro conference yet the issues to be discussed during the conference are far beyond empango" Ruhunda said.
While addressing the media in June this year at his office, Bernard Tungakwo the Toro kingdom Prime Minister who unveiled the idea of the Toro conference emphasized that it would be held annually as a pre-event for the empango celebrations.
It is not clear as to why Tungakwo did not attend the high profile meeting which called off the conference.