COMMENT | Jackson Oboth | Your Excellency, I will start by congratulating you upon winning yet another battle – the battle against COVID- 19.
I am the age mate of your son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba (Gen.MK) so for that matter, I qualify to be in the bracket of your children, not just a Muzukulu.
As a son, who is keen on his father’s ways, I often have in store wisdom from our ancestors to illustrate my point.
There is an age old wise saying which states that “Time, is the natural enemy of a man’s integrity.
This saying recently sprung to life in my mind when I heard the news that you are going to call Tororo leaders to affirm the fact that Tororo town has no contribution from West Budama and therefore belongs to another tribe from a post-independence renamed Tororo County!
Your Excellency, I also recalled that a few years ago, Newspaper headlines screamed in reaction to one of your many lectures: “People Who Talk about Identity Are Enemies of Africa –Museveni”?
You were then, October 2017, speaking as a special guest of honour at the National Defence College of Nigeria in Abuja during the inauguration of the institution’s 26th class.
Your Excellency, on that occasion you said, “The problem was poor political organization. Colonialists found us badly organized—as tribes, clans, a segmented society. It was easy to attack us one by one. We were at a disadvantage—of inadequate political integration.” That was what you said.
Now, in an absolute about turn, you were heard acknowledging the very things you condemned and continue to condemn, by saying Tororo belongs to the another tribe other than the Jopadhola, according to the colonial boundaries!
This your son, like many Ugandans, hold you in high esteem as man of integrity. To imagine that The President who sang songs of integration of African nations to form a bigger market forces starting at the regional level, was quoted confirming that Tororo town is in and belongs to Tororo County, with no contribution from West Budama, hence does not belong to the Jopadhola, beats my understanding.
Mr. President Sir, you made the remarks before the NRM Parliamentary Caucus sitting at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi. You said that the whole of Tororo town belongs to Tororo County, with no contribution from West Budama County.
Sir, those remarks you made have left the Japadhola community who have peacefully co-existed with other tribes in Bukedi ( later named Tororo) since time memorial, murmuring with lots of discomfort. Busia District, Pallisa District, Butaleja District, and Kibuku District have all emerged from this original Bukedi, leaving only West and East Budama (Tororo) of the then famous Bukedi district.
Your Excellency you promised to call the local leaders to make them come to terms with this fact – Tororo belonging solely to Tororo county.
This pronouncement is a total shift from your pet subject of integration for economic emancipation. Mr. President what could have been the reason for you to resurrect a subject of division among people who have learnt to live together, inter married and peacefully co-existed for years? The people of West Budama would like to know who is misleading the President on this matter.
Your Excellency. The remarks you made have now been construed by a group living in Tororo county to mean that Tororo Municipality belongs to them and this phenomenon has triggered an outpouring of emotions from the Japadhola community, ranging from feeling that you have sidelined them, to apprehension, anxiety and uncertainty. Outside of the Jopadhola, there is a furore of joyful activities across the community; both the ordinary folks and the leaders; cultural, political and religious.
Your Excellency, you are aware that in mid-2000 when this matter cropped up, you appointed two commissions of Inquiry. One of those commissions was headed by Dr. Cripus Kiyonga and the second one was chaired by Makerere University don Prof. Foster Byarugaba.
The findings of both commissions if you remember, were identical. They both recommended that the Japadhola community should be left alone, to leave in peace with their neighbors the Itesots. In fact one of the prominent Japs in the Academia, Dr. Tanga Odoi wrote a thesis putting the history of the Japadhola’s occupation of Tororo to proper perspective. His conclusion was identical to the ones of the two Commissions you instituted.
Your Excellency in the aftermath of those reports and Dr. Tanga Odoi’s perspective, the subsequent demands for a Tororo district to be split from Tororo, were not well received by you. To strike a compromise, you asked those advocating for a split in the district, can have Mukujju as their headquarters, a proposal which they rejected in preference for Tororo as their headquarters.
This issue then went into limbo with both sides, harboring a silent feeling that Tororo would remain a neutral ground for both parties and indeed, that feeling had come to be accepted until your recent pronouncements.
Your Excellency, the question your son is asking is how you arrived at that conclusion which is contrary to that of the two commissions you instituted.
Mr. President I started off this letter by addressing myself as your son and supporter. But also as a Citizen of this great country, we have known you to be a Father, a grandfather, an Icon of peace and prosperity not only in Uganda but across the continent.
Your strong points have been unity, peace and security for prosperity. What we as the Japadhola community are expecting from you are nothing else apart from the above. We would like to appeal to you to stand firm on your strong attributes as a unifying father of the nation to maintain unity as opposed to disunity and disintegration especially of a people who are already united. We pray that you will think over this matter and that your un-matched wisdom will prevail.
Your Excellency, we are mindful of the fact that you know the history of this contested area very well and there is a map which clearly disapproves your recent pronouncements that Budama has no contribution to Tororo Municipality. Your Excellency? Have you forgotten that there is East Budama clearly marked in the original map?
Another question which is bothering the Jopadhola community is why their beloved President whom they have consistently voted for over the years, is suddenly turning against them?
Your Excellency in conclusion, we pray that you allow peace, unity, progress and status quo prevail. We wish you well and trust that all shall be well.
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Jackson Oboth is a Development Communications Specialist, Journalist and a Public Relations Practitioner.
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