Lango elders snub their cultural leader
By George Murumba
29th Oct 2012:
All leaders of the Lango Elders Council (LEC) based in the United Kingdom boycotted a October 27 Lango community meeting called by the office of the “Won Nyaci”, the cultural leader of the Langi people of northern Uganda.
In a two page statement titled ‘Statement of Discontent With, and Disapproval of the Visit of Won Nyaci to United Kingdom and United States’, the LEC pointed to the failure by their cultural leader to respond to an earlier petition they had sent to him.
In that petition, the LEC had, among many other things, raised serious concerns about their cultural leader’s alleged partisan association with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
Uganda Correspondent has independently confirmed that Mr Sam Engola, a senior NRM stalwart and Minister who hails from Lango is part of the Lango cultural leader’s delegation – a fact that the LEC Chairman Col. John Ogole says, “…compounds our fears that there may be close political collaboration between the office of the ‘Won Nyaci’ and the NRM.”
In particular, the LEC accused their cultural leader of “…secretly contacting NRM operatives in the respective countries (U.S. and UK) to arrange reception parties and meetings with selected NRM supporters with the object of drumming up support for the NRM.”
The other key issue raised in the LEC petition was the cultural leader’s alleged failure to protect Lango land from land grabbers. Col. (Rtd) Tony Otoa, the Lango cultural leader’s Prime Minister tried frantically to dissuade the LEC from boycotting the London meeting.
“…Since His Highness Won Nyaci is already here in London and available with all the answers to the concerns you raised in the document sent to me,…I am appealing to you to reconsider your decision not to meet His Highness Won Nyaci”, Otoa pleaded with the LEC.
His plea however fell on deaf ears. The LEC resolved that, “…due to the above unfortunate reasons, the LEC (UK) members, by consensus, decided not to attend any meetings organised by the above mentioned secret agents and will not be party to any deliberations and decisions made therefrom.”
Uganda Correspondent has also learnt that the Lango cultural leader only attracted about thirty people in one of his Lango community meetings in the United States. Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates
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