Nobody would compromise Adoko Nekyon - Awori

POLITICS

Former ICT Minister Aggrey Awori has described the late Akbar Adoko Nekyon as a man who was very tough to be compromised.

Awori said Nekyon was articulate and tough which made him unpopular in certain circles in Uganda People's Congress (UPC).

"He did not mince his words. His friends liked him for that and his enemies hated him over the same thing," he said.

Nekyon, who died on Friday, was the first cousin of the former President of Uganda Milton Obote. Nekyon died following a spine operation that he underwent in 2013. He was buried on Saturday.

Awori said: "We were in UPC together and I knew Nekyon both politically and as a relative of my mentor Dr Milton Obote, but even when he lived a miserable life in exile in Nairobi after the overthrow of Obote one government, he never allowed to be compromised."

Nekyon, like his cousins Obote and Akena had been educated by their families to dominate the politics of their region and the country, Awori said.

"That is why they had been educated in the best universities in the world, for example, Nekyon went to India, Akena studied in London and Obote in Makerere," he said.

Nekyon's legacy

Awori said Nekyon's most memorable achievements happened during his reign as Minister of Information during the Obote one government.

"He was the man who introduced Uganda Television (UTV) in 1964. There was suspicion over the transparency in the process of securing of UTV, but Nekyon was never implicated," he said.

To further consolidate his legacy in information sector, Awori said, Nekyon came up with a proposal to have television sets assembled in Uganda so as to make them more affordable.

"Later, Sembule Group of companies nearly implemented his dream," Awori said.

Awori said Nekyon was a man of controversies. He married a daughter of the bishop of Mbale when he was Muslim. When Nekyoni accepted to work with President Yoweri Museveni after the 1986 war, Awori said the enemies the former had in UPC concluded that Nekyon was a mole.

Read more about Adoko Nekyon in Sunday Vision