By Caroline Kanshabe
A section of elders in the Teso region have expressed their disappointment in the way political leaders of Teso are fighting each other for no reason.
The elders raised this issue in separate interviews with this publication over the weekend in Soroti and Katakwi districts.
Justine Emuron from Arapai in Soroti district said President Museveni had given a large number of appointments to the Teso region, but the infighting among Iteso politicians was hindering development in the region.
According to Emuron, there are two camps in the Teso region, one headed by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Annet Anita Among, who also doubles as the woman member of parliament for Bukedea district, and another camp loyal to Vice President Jessica Alupo, who also doubles as the woman member of parliament for Katakwi district.
He said these two camps don’t share a table of food, yet they are all from the Teso region and should be fighting for a common goal of Teso development.
“We are not happy as elders because we kept on blaming President Museveni for ignoring Teso, but finally, the president listened to us and appointed quite a number of Iteso leaders in good positions. However, we are not seeing the benefit of their appointments because of their infighting,” he said.
It should be noted that President Museveni has appointed a significant number of Iteso people in his government, the first of its kind since Uganda gained her independence.
The first appointment is Jessica Alupo, the Vice President of Uganda, marking the first Itesot woman to be in that office, followed by Dr. Kenneth Omona, the Presidential Private Secretary. Others include Annet Anita Among, Speaker of Parliament; Gen. Peter Elwelu, Deputy Chief of Defence Forces; Gen. Jeje Odongo, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Francis Musa Ecweru, State Minister for Works; Peter Ogwang, State Minister for Sports; Hellen Adoa, State Minister for Fisheries; Hellen Asamo, State Minister for People with Disabilities; Sidronius Opolot Okaasai, State Minister for Energy, and many other departments that would help jointly fight for Teso development. However, this publication has learned that Teso is going to remain the way it was without the appointment of all those people as long as the fighting continues.
Patrick Okoed, an elder and a resident of Kapir in Ngora, apologized to the President for all the demands made by Iteso elders, which he said he has partly fulfilled, but the blame goes to the people of Teso.
“Indeed, we blamed the poverty in Teso on the President’s failure to appoint many Itesots in the government, but quickly the President took a step and gave offices to Iteso. But again, the devil has entered the hearts of our children, given those offices to fight each other instead of using their offices to influence the development of Teso,” he said.
Moses Odikor, another elder, said it’s unfortunate that the Teso elected leaders do better things in other regions and forget to do it in the region where they hail from.
“I now believe that the best carpenter has a good chair at his home, and that’s what’s happening to our elected children who want to support other regions instead of their own region,” he said.
James Okiror from Ngariam in Katakwi said the Teso region will never again get such appointments after President Museveni leaves power. He advised the Vice President never to pay attention to those who are hired to fight against her, but she should concentrate on helping her people in Teso.
Joel Okurut, a businessman in Soroti, said the worst thing is that these politicians are now taking their fights to frustrate local investors who happen to be relatives of those they are fighting with.
