Gerald Bareebe
Tororo
Mr Suleiman Wasoko Luboti is a retired driver and resident of Tororo Municipality. The 64-year-old has lived here since he was 20 and says he has not felt unsettled like in the past days after Cabinet announced its decision to split Tororo into Mukuju and Kisoko districts.
“The government should be bold enough and spilt this district. Failure to do so will be postponing the problem,” he said. “The truth is that the two tribes can no longer peacefully live together.”
The agitation for a district status for the Iteso of Tororo started in 1998. In 2005 when President Museveni held a rally at Mukuju Sub-county headquarters, a brave Iteso ate a live rat to demonstrate to the President that there is a cultural variation between the Iteso and the Jopadhola.
This action prompted Mr Museveni to institute two commissions of inquiry, the Prof. Foster Byarugaba commission and that of Dr Crispus Kiyonga.
Both commissions recommended for the split of Tororo into Mukuju and Kisoko districts and also contended that the municipality remains in Mukuju.
Tracing the origin
At first, the current Tororo District was named Budama but was later divided into West Budama and East Budama. The Iteso who occupied East Budama rejected the name ‘Budama’ arguing that they are not Badama.
That led to the renaming of East Budama Tororo County and this area includes present-day Tororo Municipality.
When Tororo was given municipality status, it was detached from the county. As a result, Tororo District is comprised of the constituencies of West Budama, Tororo County and Tororo Municipality.
The Jopadhola are Luo. They have similar traditions of origin with the Alur, Acholi and the Joluo of Kenya. They live amidst various Bantu ethnic groups. They are said to have settled there since the middle of the 16th century.
They are surrounded on all sides by the Bantu and the Nile-Hamites peoples.
To the west live the Banyole and the Basoga; to their north and East live the Bagwere and Iteso; and to their south live the Basamia and Bagwe.
The Iteso, on the other hand, are part of the Karimojong group which is said to have come from Abyssinia. By the first half of the 18th century, they had settled on the shores of L. Salisbury.
Tradition asserts that the ancestors of the Iteso came form the direction of Karamoja. However, other historians have modified this tradition to assert that the Iteso are a Nilo-Hamitic group with similar origins as the Langi, the Karimojong, the Jie and the Kumam.
Although it is still hard to figure out which tribe inhabited Tororo District first, the 2002 national census figures show that the Jopadhola are the majority in the municipality and the district at large.
They constitute 57 per cent of the district’s population, while the Iteso are 32 per cent. In the municipality, Jopadhola are 29.5 per cent, followed by the Iteso, 22.4 per cent, Bagisu, 11.5 per cent, Basoga at 6.2 per cent and Banyole at 5.6 per cent.
Tororo Municipality, whose ownership is a big subject of disputation, is the main economic centre in the district. Maps of Tororo District obtained by Saturday Monitor from Uganda bureau of standards show that Tororo Municipality lies in Tororo County.
“The only solutions to this standoff is dividing Tororo because it is what is truthful, It is what is just, It is what is historically correct and it is consistent with previous resolutions,” said Dr Apollo Epuwatt, who operates a private dispensary in Tororo Municipality.
Dr Epuwatt, whose uncle, Moses Ekiring, was killed in the battle against the Jopadhola in 1947 said the Iteso can not be seen to be advancing tribalism by demanding for their identity after several years under marginalisation by the Jopadhola.
Is there evidence of marginalisation?
The entire population of Tororo District is estimated at 838,600, West Budama county is estimated to have 440,100 inhabitants while Tororo county has 327,500 with the municipality have 71,000 inhabitants.
The Iteso say they have over the years been marginalised and denied access to development services by the Jopadholas who dominate most leadership positions at the district. This dominance gives the Jopadhola a chance to influence and determine resource allocation.
Districts records accessed by Saturday Monitor do not suggest otherwise. On the district executive committee, out of the five members, only one Mr Martin Etoori, the vice chairman, is an Iteso. On the public accounts committee, out of the five members, only one, Ms Alice Dokoria, is an Iteso.
The Iteso complain that the Jopadhola engineered a stronghold on committees, which they used to divert a disproportionately larger share of resources to West Budama at the expense of Iteso’s Tororo County.
The 2008/9 budget for education saw Jopadhola’s West Budama getting 75 per cent, compared to Iteso’s Tororo County’s 25 per cent. The Jopadhola have 102 government aided schools while the Iteso have only 48.
In the 2005/6 financial year, the budget allocated to education was skewed with West Budama getting 77 per cent compared to Tororo’s 22 per cent. For the road fund, West Budama got 90km of the total 94.
In the 2009/10 budget estimates for road maintenance and rehabilitation, West Budama is to get 63.2 per cent compared to Tororo County’s 36.8 per cent.
Cultural versus tribal sentiments
As the Jopadhola are fighting to keep their cultural dominance in the region, the Iteso are fighting for their economic survival.
West Budama MP William Oketcho, while appearing before the Local Government Committee of Parliament, said the Jopadhola are not willing to surrender Tororo Municipality because it has some of Jopadhola’s cultural sites. “We are protecting the heritage of our people, the municipality has our cultural shrines and we cannot allow it to be destroyed,” he said.
But the Iteso have dismissed this and accuse the Jopadhola chief of carrying out a deliberate annexation of Iteso’s areas. They also accuse him of buying a land at Amagoro from two Iteso to construct a palace.
“The Jopadhola kingdom is post-independence and not pre-colonial like Buganda and Bunyoro. It came because of the recent government policy toward traditional leaders,” said Mr Nicholas Dokoria, the representative of Emorimor in Tororo County. “King Tieng Adhola was just elected by only Japadholas but he now claims to be in charge of all of us they are using the kingship to claim territories.”
Who stands to lose?
The Jopadhola ‘s fear is that splitting Tororo makes, West Budama lose most in terms of property. These include, the key industrial town of Tororo, which is now economically viable, especially after the discovery of huge phosphate and the revitalisation of Tororo Cement. The government also plans the construction of an inland port in Tororo.
“We have contributed to the development of this town and we shall not surrender it to the Iteso,” says Mr Peter Owori, motorcyclists in Tororo town.
Tororo town is also an educational centre with schools like Tororo Girls, St. Peters College Manjansi, hospitals like Tororo and St. Anthony. Tororo rock, the district’s pride, is also in the municipality.
Apart from small towns like Nagongera and Mulanda trading centres, the new Kisoko district has minimal development activities . However, the Local Government Act provides for the sharing of properties if a district is split.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
FDC, police in fresh row over Jjulunga murder inquiry
Gerald Bareebe
Kampala
The opposition Forum for Democratic Change is on another collision course with the Police after its internal inquiry into the death of party activist Tom Jjulunga accused the Force of deliberately mishandling the case and protecting the prime suspect Mr Vincent Baguma.
The July 14 report prepared by FDC secretary for Internal Affairs Frank Atukunda, alleges that apart from the police tipping off Mr Baguma to escape initial arrest in his Mubende hide-out on June 13, the Force is currently holding him at the Kireka-based Rapid Response Unit. The Police have since denied FDC officials from accessing Mr Baguma despite the Force agreeing with the party to cooperate in the conduct of the inquiry.
“All attempts to talk to him while in detention have all been futile. Police have said we can only access him if we are his lawyers or relatives,” the report says.
Mr Jjulunga, who was killed in a mysterious city shooting on June 6, had made his name criticising the government on Kampala radio debates, commonly known as Ebimeeza.
According to the FDC report, the understanding to cooperate in the inquiry was reached at a June 8 meeting between FDC officials led by Maj. John Kazoora and senior police officers Mr Francis Mujinya, the Kampala Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Chief, Mr Paul Kato, the Kampala Metropolitan CID Chief and Mr Edward Ochom, the director of CID.
Mr Baguma, who allegedly hired the car in which Mr Jjulunga was murdered, was on June 21 presented by the Police to the press as having handed over himself voluntarily and confessed that he was involved in a car robbery in Kawempe, where he claimed Jjulunga was shot.
The FDC report also disputes this, pointing out that no case of robbery was reported at Kawempe Police on the night of the murder of their party activist. “Our investigations show that this record did not exist prior to Baguma’s arrest,” the report says.
Mr Atukunda told Daily Monitor on Saturday that prior to the Police shielding Mr Baguma, the latter had agreed to tell the FDC officials everybody that was involved in the murder. “We made attempts to talk to him in Kireka but they (Police) have refused,” he said.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba has accused FDC officials of trying to distort information before Police concludes its investigations. “What do they want us to do? We are still investigating,” Ms Nabakooba said on Saturday.
“Mr Baguma is still in detention at RRU. [But] let us wait for the investigators to do their part,” she added. The latest row puts more pressure on Police regarding the conduct of high profile investigations.
Kampala
The opposition Forum for Democratic Change is on another collision course with the Police after its internal inquiry into the death of party activist Tom Jjulunga accused the Force of deliberately mishandling the case and protecting the prime suspect Mr Vincent Baguma.
The July 14 report prepared by FDC secretary for Internal Affairs Frank Atukunda, alleges that apart from the police tipping off Mr Baguma to escape initial arrest in his Mubende hide-out on June 13, the Force is currently holding him at the Kireka-based Rapid Response Unit. The Police have since denied FDC officials from accessing Mr Baguma despite the Force agreeing with the party to cooperate in the conduct of the inquiry.
“All attempts to talk to him while in detention have all been futile. Police have said we can only access him if we are his lawyers or relatives,” the report says.
Mr Jjulunga, who was killed in a mysterious city shooting on June 6, had made his name criticising the government on Kampala radio debates, commonly known as Ebimeeza.
According to the FDC report, the understanding to cooperate in the inquiry was reached at a June 8 meeting between FDC officials led by Maj. John Kazoora and senior police officers Mr Francis Mujinya, the Kampala Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Chief, Mr Paul Kato, the Kampala Metropolitan CID Chief and Mr Edward Ochom, the director of CID.
Mr Baguma, who allegedly hired the car in which Mr Jjulunga was murdered, was on June 21 presented by the Police to the press as having handed over himself voluntarily and confessed that he was involved in a car robbery in Kawempe, where he claimed Jjulunga was shot.
The FDC report also disputes this, pointing out that no case of robbery was reported at Kawempe Police on the night of the murder of their party activist. “Our investigations show that this record did not exist prior to Baguma’s arrest,” the report says.
Mr Atukunda told Daily Monitor on Saturday that prior to the Police shielding Mr Baguma, the latter had agreed to tell the FDC officials everybody that was involved in the murder. “We made attempts to talk to him in Kireka but they (Police) have refused,” he said.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba has accused FDC officials of trying to distort information before Police concludes its investigations. “What do they want us to do? We are still investigating,” Ms Nabakooba said on Saturday.
“Mr Baguma is still in detention at RRU. [But] let us wait for the investigators to do their part,” she added. The latest row puts more pressure on Police regarding the conduct of high profile investigations.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Amnesty Commission: MPs query bosses’ double salaries
Amnesty Commission: MPs query bosses’ double salaries
GERALD BAREEBE
Kampala
Members of Parliament yesterday queried a double salary payment worth Shs540m to the chairperson of Uganda Amnesty Commission, Justice Peter Onega, and the Commission’s district settlement team manager, Ms Agnes Sekiboobo.
The money was accumulated over nine years. MPs heard yesterday that the two officials were appointed on a part-time basis which attracted a sitting allowance of Shs100,000 but due to the nature of the work, their employments were illegally upgraded to the level of a full-staff with a monthly payment of Shs2.5 million each. However, Justice Onega and Ms Sekiboobo never resigned their previous jobs and continued to earn two salaries which contravene public service guidelines.
Justice Onega continued to be paid Shs4.5 million from the judiciary with other entitlements like a car, a body guard, a driver and medical treatment while Ms Sekiboobo continued to get Shs1.5 million as a senior lecturer of statistics at Makerere University.
The MPs were shocked that the officials had with intent accepted to be paid two salaries well aware that it was against the law. “Justice Onega, you are in problems and in my view you should apologise and refund this money otherwise it is going to embarrass you and your family,” Mr Ibrahim Byandala (Katikamu North, NRM), said.
The Amnesty commission Secretary, Mr Damian Kato, who was appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions to respond to audit queries raised by the Auditor General, told MPs that he wrote to the appointing authority requesting for intervention to resolve double payment crisis but he never got a response.
Daily Monitor saw a letter from Mr Kato to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, copied to the AG requesting that the terms of appointment for the two officials be streamlined to enable them earn one salary as required by law.
Mr Sebuliba Mutumba (Kawempe North, DP) who chaired the committee, said there was need for a legal interpretation because this situation has risen before with Justice Julia Ssebutinde and Justice Faith Mwondha being accused of earning double salaries. “Why should someone hold more than one office when there is high unemployment in Uganda?” Mr Sebuliba asked. “You can see the situation you are in now. You must refund this money.”
Some MPs accused the Ministry of Internal affairs of changing the terms of employment for the two officials without making it mandatory for them to resign. But Justice Onega dismissed MPs concerns that he broke rules governing public employment and that he was facing a moral problem by accepting two salaries. He added that he would be willing to resign from the commission and continue with his career in the Judiciary. “I don’t see any moral conflicts because when I was appointed to the commission I was told that I was supposed to receive a sitting allowance of Shs100,000. But when we realised that the nature of the work needed me to be at the commission everyday, I had to be paid that amount every day,” he said.
Ms Sekiboobo said she understood the MPs concerns but denied that she has been receiving a double payment. She said, “What I know is that I am being paid allowances. I don’t know the salary part of it.”
The two officials were yesterday placed under investigation. MPs ordered Mr Kato to provide all documents regarding employment of Justice Onega and Ms Sekibobo and also his correspondences with the Ministry of Internal Affairs
GERALD BAREEBE
Kampala
Members of Parliament yesterday queried a double salary payment worth Shs540m to the chairperson of Uganda Amnesty Commission, Justice Peter Onega, and the Commission’s district settlement team manager, Ms Agnes Sekiboobo.
The money was accumulated over nine years. MPs heard yesterday that the two officials were appointed on a part-time basis which attracted a sitting allowance of Shs100,000 but due to the nature of the work, their employments were illegally upgraded to the level of a full-staff with a monthly payment of Shs2.5 million each. However, Justice Onega and Ms Sekiboobo never resigned their previous jobs and continued to earn two salaries which contravene public service guidelines.
Justice Onega continued to be paid Shs4.5 million from the judiciary with other entitlements like a car, a body guard, a driver and medical treatment while Ms Sekiboobo continued to get Shs1.5 million as a senior lecturer of statistics at Makerere University.
The MPs were shocked that the officials had with intent accepted to be paid two salaries well aware that it was against the law. “Justice Onega, you are in problems and in my view you should apologise and refund this money otherwise it is going to embarrass you and your family,” Mr Ibrahim Byandala (Katikamu North, NRM), said.
The Amnesty commission Secretary, Mr Damian Kato, who was appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions to respond to audit queries raised by the Auditor General, told MPs that he wrote to the appointing authority requesting for intervention to resolve double payment crisis but he never got a response.
Daily Monitor saw a letter from Mr Kato to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, copied to the AG requesting that the terms of appointment for the two officials be streamlined to enable them earn one salary as required by law.
Mr Sebuliba Mutumba (Kawempe North, DP) who chaired the committee, said there was need for a legal interpretation because this situation has risen before with Justice Julia Ssebutinde and Justice Faith Mwondha being accused of earning double salaries. “Why should someone hold more than one office when there is high unemployment in Uganda?” Mr Sebuliba asked. “You can see the situation you are in now. You must refund this money.”
Some MPs accused the Ministry of Internal affairs of changing the terms of employment for the two officials without making it mandatory for them to resign. But Justice Onega dismissed MPs concerns that he broke rules governing public employment and that he was facing a moral problem by accepting two salaries. He added that he would be willing to resign from the commission and continue with his career in the Judiciary. “I don’t see any moral conflicts because when I was appointed to the commission I was told that I was supposed to receive a sitting allowance of Shs100,000. But when we realised that the nature of the work needed me to be at the commission everyday, I had to be paid that amount every day,” he said.
Ms Sekiboobo said she understood the MPs concerns but denied that she has been receiving a double payment. She said, “What I know is that I am being paid allowances. I don’t know the salary part of it.”
The two officials were yesterday placed under investigation. MPs ordered Mr Kato to provide all documents regarding employment of Justice Onega and Ms Sekibobo and also his correspondences with the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Tortured lady narrates Iraq tribulations to MPs
Tortured lady narrates Iraq tribulations to MPs
GERALD BAREEBE
Parliament
Ms Rachael Malagala, a Ugandan woman, who was allegedly tortured by her bosses after being decoyed by a private company to work in Iraq, yesterday broke into tears as she narrated to MPs the tough torments she endured while working under terrible conditions by Iraqis.
The 24-year-old resident of Katwe II in Makindye division, Kampala District, said she was taken to Iraq in May 11, 2009 by Uganda Veterans Company, a local labour recruiting firm.
She told MPs that when she was being recruited, she was promised that she would be employed as an office secretary but was forced to do domestic work.
Ms Malagala, who was supposed to meet with the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rabecca Kadaga, later in the afternoon, said she left Uganda with five other ladies but only three have managed to return.
Those that remained, she said, have been sexually abused and forced to go through hard times.
“I was in a bad condition, I was treated like a slave and I fed on the left-overs of my boss,” a tearful Ms Malagala said, as MPs looked on in disbelief, before adding: “I got sick and I couldn’t even work but I continued to be forced to wash hundreds of clothes.”
Ms Malagala’s case follows reports that several Ugandans working with the United States forces in Iraq are sexually abused and their contracts changed arbitrarily by the recruiting agencies.
In 2006, Daily Monitor reported a case of Mr Enock Bashaija and Mr Geoffrey Kawuka who were beaten into a coma by foreign officers at Alasad Airbase after they queried terms of their contract.
Under extreme suffering, Ms Malagala contacted the Baghdad office of Uganda Veterans Company but she was turned away.
“I told the man I found in the office that I can’t work under such conditions and he shouted at me, saying I should go on the streets and beg for money if I want to return home or I go back and work.”
She added that when she became a regular complainant at this office, she was locked in a dark room with three other women.
However, a Good Samaritan at the office, only identified as Jamilah helped her telephone the MP for Makindye West, Mr Hussein Kyanjo, who reported the matter to the floor of the House.
She added, “One of the ladies I met in the room where we were kept narrated to us how she was raped by her boss and we all started crying. She could not report to anyone.”
After Mr Kyanjo’s submission, the Speaker ordered the line ministry to investigate the matter. This, she said, frightened the company, forcing it to start arrangements to fly them back to Uganda.
Ms Malagala said she was promised a monthly payment of about $400 but when she arrived in Iraq, it was reduced to only $200 which, she says, was also never given to her.
But Ms Grace Kanyike, the managing director of Uganda Veterans Company told Daily Monitor yesterday that she has reported Ms Malagala’s case to Interpol for investigation and that if she was tortured she must be compensated.
“I am the one who paid for her visa and airtickets but she failed to work and now I am being attacked left and right,” she said.
“We don’t allow torture in my company and I have reported her case to Interpol. If it is proved that she was tortured she will be compensated.”
Mr Kyanjo, who turned emotional over Ms Malagala’s story, requested the government to black list the company and also bar it from recruiting more Ugandans for employment in Iraq.
GERALD BAREEBE
Parliament
Ms Rachael Malagala, a Ugandan woman, who was allegedly tortured by her bosses after being decoyed by a private company to work in Iraq, yesterday broke into tears as she narrated to MPs the tough torments she endured while working under terrible conditions by Iraqis.
The 24-year-old resident of Katwe II in Makindye division, Kampala District, said she was taken to Iraq in May 11, 2009 by Uganda Veterans Company, a local labour recruiting firm.
She told MPs that when she was being recruited, she was promised that she would be employed as an office secretary but was forced to do domestic work.
Ms Malagala, who was supposed to meet with the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rabecca Kadaga, later in the afternoon, said she left Uganda with five other ladies but only three have managed to return.
Those that remained, she said, have been sexually abused and forced to go through hard times.
“I was in a bad condition, I was treated like a slave and I fed on the left-overs of my boss,” a tearful Ms Malagala said, as MPs looked on in disbelief, before adding: “I got sick and I couldn’t even work but I continued to be forced to wash hundreds of clothes.”
Ms Malagala’s case follows reports that several Ugandans working with the United States forces in Iraq are sexually abused and their contracts changed arbitrarily by the recruiting agencies.
In 2006, Daily Monitor reported a case of Mr Enock Bashaija and Mr Geoffrey Kawuka who were beaten into a coma by foreign officers at Alasad Airbase after they queried terms of their contract.
Under extreme suffering, Ms Malagala contacted the Baghdad office of Uganda Veterans Company but she was turned away.
“I told the man I found in the office that I can’t work under such conditions and he shouted at me, saying I should go on the streets and beg for money if I want to return home or I go back and work.”
She added that when she became a regular complainant at this office, she was locked in a dark room with three other women.
However, a Good Samaritan at the office, only identified as Jamilah helped her telephone the MP for Makindye West, Mr Hussein Kyanjo, who reported the matter to the floor of the House.
She added, “One of the ladies I met in the room where we were kept narrated to us how she was raped by her boss and we all started crying. She could not report to anyone.”
After Mr Kyanjo’s submission, the Speaker ordered the line ministry to investigate the matter. This, she said, frightened the company, forcing it to start arrangements to fly them back to Uganda.
Ms Malagala said she was promised a monthly payment of about $400 but when she arrived in Iraq, it was reduced to only $200 which, she says, was also never given to her.
But Ms Grace Kanyike, the managing director of Uganda Veterans Company told Daily Monitor yesterday that she has reported Ms Malagala’s case to Interpol for investigation and that if she was tortured she must be compensated.
“I am the one who paid for her visa and airtickets but she failed to work and now I am being attacked left and right,” she said.
“We don’t allow torture in my company and I have reported her case to Interpol. If it is proved that she was tortured she will be compensated.”
Mr Kyanjo, who turned emotional over Ms Malagala’s story, requested the government to black list the company and also bar it from recruiting more Ugandans for employment in Iraq.
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