Uncertainty as Lango braces for coronation of two rival paramount chiefs
Elected rival Lango paramount chief and the gazzetted paramount chief Eng Dr Michael Moses Odongo Okune. PHOTO/COMBO
What you need to know:
- The current Lango paramount chief will abdicate on November 1, 2024.
Uncertainty prevailed in Northern Uganda on Tuesday as residents in Lira District edged closer to the coronation of two rival Lango cultural leaders commonly called the paramount chief or won nyaci.
The tribal group is set for the crowning of Ambassador Dickson Ogwang on October 18 despite the fact that Gulu High Court Judge Phillips Odoki issued an injunction against the election in which he was voted to on Friday.
Ogwang was voted through polls organized by the Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF) under Yosam Odur Ebii, who was in April 2024 degazzeted as the Won Nyaci effective November 1, 2024.
His degazzation originally paved way for the planned November 2, 2024 coronation of former Uganda Road Fund (URF) managing director Eng Dr Michael Moses Odongo Okune, who is now a commissioner in the Ministry of Works and Transport.
However, tensions have since emerged between LCF and the Lango Cultural Institution, which is backing Dr Okune, who was in June 2024 declared the gazzetted won nyaci in an announcement by labour minister Betty Amongi.
On October 15, Gulu High Court was due to decide on an application seeking a permanent injunction against LCF organizing an election and installing a rival cultural leader.
But in another letter received at the Labour ministry on the same date, Ebii introduces Ogwang to several government offices including the presidency, saying he was “elected in a free and fair poll.”
The controversial October 11 election was supervised by the LCF electoral commission headed by army man Col (Rtd) Dan Opito.
“An Electoral Commission that I appointed specifically to organize and manage the election of the new cultural leader of Lango following my decision to abdicate was published in the Uganda Gazette in April 2024,” Ebii stated in his letter.
He added: “Understanding that my tenure is perpetual and as a corporate sole, I am pleased to pass on LCF leadership and the institution of Wony Nyaci me Lango to Ogwang,” Ebii emphasized in his letter.
By press time Tuesday afternoon, court was yet to pronounce itself on the matter while the Lango Cultural Institution did not immediately comment on the developments emerging through LCF.
Ebii will abdicate on November 1, 2024.
“In respect to the above, I am pleased to invite you [President Museveni] to the installation ceremony of the newly elected Won Nyaci on October 18, 2024 or a date of your choice, most convenient on or before November,” Ebii said.
In late September 2024, Dr Okune’s coronation national organizing committee chair and government chief whip Hamson Obua said they had invited Museveni, former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama to the crowning of their new paramount chief on November 2, 2024.
In their inaugural post-election addressed, both Ogwang and Dr Okune have expressed commitment to fostering unity among the people of Lango and advocating for regional development.
