State Minister for Sports Peter Ogwang has continued to cause a political debate among NRM honchos especially those from Acholi, Lango and West Nile Sub-Regions after he informed the Acholis to denounce opposition FDC if they want to enjoy key positions in government.
The Minister suggested that his home region of Teso has been able to amass several top positions in the current term of President Museveni simply because they rejected opposition and voted very well.
He therefore, whispered to the Acholis to also style up and vote wisely if they are to test power just like the Itesots are currently enjoying.
The Minister made the statements in Amuru district during a function which was presided over by Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, also an Itesot hailing from Bukedea District.
Ogwang who is also the MP for Ngariam county in Katakwi district, read out a number of positions being held by Itesots and thus urged the Acholis to follow suit.
“When you see (speaker) Among here, don’t joke with this woman. This woman woman is a very powerful woman in the Republic of Uganda. She’s also an Itesot” Ogwang said, prompting Among to get the mic and said ‘For us in Teso and even in Karamoja, we believe in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit’
Ogwang continued mentioning the positions being occupied by Itesots adding that Gen. Museveni is still around.
“By the way, Museveni is still around. And for that matter…., it pains when I see bright people (Acholis) who should be appointed, and you’re here being confused. Where is FDC taking you?” He wondered.
To prove his statement, the minister started by outlining all top positions currently being occupied by Teso sons and daughters.
“No. 2 (Vice President) is an Itesot, Speaker of Parliament is an Itesot, Minister for Foreign Affairs is an Itesot, Governor Bank of Uganda is an Itesot, the Auditor General is an Itesot, and the Deputy CDF is an Itesot” he started.
Ogwang went on ‘The Minister for Foreign Affairs is an Itesot, the minister for Fisheries is an Itesot, Minister for Disability is an Itesot, Teso Affairs is an Itesot, Minister for works is an Itesot, State Minister for Energy is an Itesot, the minister for sports is an Itesot, the Chairperson Natural Resources committee is an Itesot, the chairperson budget committee is an Itesot, the chairperson national economy is an Itesot’
Ogwang’s persuasive yet intriguing remarks however, caused murmurs among NRM honchos in northern Uganda wondering if Teso performed better than the rest of other Sub-Regions in that Ateker community.
“The Minister is raising a very big point. But we must also ask, did Teso Vote better than Acholi, Lango, Karamoja or West Nile? This is what we must interrogate and see if those appointments were as a result of the voting patterns or something else was at play” explained a former minister from West Nile.
“Ogwang Peter lectures Acholis on Teso strategies that has given them all key positions in Government. But we even voted more than them” added another former minister from Acholi.
The debate raged on with another top NRM honcho from Lango also calling for a detailed analysis of the votes from all the five Sub-Regions including Teso, Karamoja, West Nile, Lango and Acholi to see which one had what and got what if the Minister’s assertions are anything to go by!
Basing on the National Electoral Commission’s Presidential Election Results of 2021, The Inspector hereby unpacks details of how these Sub-Regions voted visa viz what they secured! Here we go!
DETAILS
In total, Acholi has eight districts and a City. These include Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo, Lamwo, Amuru, Agago, Omoro, Nwoya and Gulu City .
Teso, has 10 Districts and a City. These include Kumi, Bukedea, Katakwi, Soroti, Serere, Kapelebyong, Amuria, Kalaki, Kaberamaido, Ngora and Soroti city.
Lango has got nine Districts and a City including Apac, Oyam, Otuke, Amolatar, Alebtong, Lira, Dokolo, Kole, Kwania and Lira City.
As for West Nile, there are 12 Districts plus a city. These include Arua, Nebbi, Koboko, Yumbe, Terego, Maracha, Zombo, Madi Okolo, Pakwach, Obongi, Moyo, Adjumani and Arua city.
Karamoja has nine Districts including Karenga, Nabilatuk, Amudat, Moroto, Kotido, Napak, Abim, Nakapiripirit and Kaabong.
Although in terms of population the Districts differ, according to the Presidential Election Results by the Electoral Commission, it is evident that Karamoja voted highly than any other Sub-Region in Luo/Ateker setting!
In Teso for example, the best District where Museveni earned more votes was Katakwi district where he secured 72.5% of the cast votes. In total, there were 83162 registered voters but only 56246 were valid votes with Museveni bagging 40777 (72.5%) of them.
This is in contrast with Karamoja where for example the worst performing district, was Abim. In terms of margin in comparison with Katakwi, Abim which was last in Karamoja gave Museveni 77.39% votes out of the 23588 valid votes. The president got a staggering 18254 votes! The total number of registered voters here were 36539!
Actually, in Karamoja sub-region, Museveni scored 97.58% votes in Amudat, 94% in Napak, 94.36% in Nakapiripirit, 97.82% in Nabilatuk, 90.55% in Karenga, 87.35% in Moroto, 83.18 in Kotido and 87.63% in Kaabong district. However, going by the Minister’s analysis, it is evident that Karamoja did better than Teso. In the cabinet appointment, the Sub-Region got three ministerial appointments including one full cabinet position (Karamoja affairs) and two state ministerial appointments including Ethics and that of Disaster.
Comparing Teso results with those of West Nile, it is still evident that Gen. Museveni again did more wonders in West Nile than he did in Teso.
For example, in Arua district out of the 32804 valid votes, he garnered 23824 votes representing 70.48% while in Teso’s Soroti District, out of 62319 valid votes, Museveni got 34590 votes representing 55.5% margin.
In neighbouring Lango Sub-Region, Lira District had 60604 valid votes of which Museveni took 36908 (60.9%) while in Acholi’s Gulu district, the NRM Presidential candidate got himself 9997 votes out of the 19839 valid votes representing a 50.39%.
In the Cities themselves, Soroti city had 30375 valid votes of which Museveni got 12031 (39.61%), in Gulu City out of 32964 valid votes, Museveni got 14603 representing 44.3%.
In Lira City, out of 52214 valid votes, Museveni got 30271 votes (57.97%) while in Arua city, out of the 73323 valid votes, Museveni got 39566 votes representing 53.98%.
In Teso, the best performing district was Katakwi which gave Museveni 72.5% followed by Kapelebyong which gave him 68.01% and Bukedea which gave him 64.17% of the 58576 valid votes cast!
In Karamoja sub-region, the best performing districts were Nabilatuk which gave Museveni 97.82%, followed by Amudat which gave him 97.58% and followed by Nakapiripirit which gave him 94.36% of the total number of valid votes cast!
In Acholi, the district which gave Museveni more votes was Agago which out of 63961 valid votes, 47696 went to Museveni representing a 74.57%. It was followed by neighbouring Pader which gave 63.61% and then Omoro district which gave 60.68% or 20902 votes to Museveni out of the 34445 valid votes cast.
In Lango, the best performing district was Otuke which out of the 32078 valid votes cast, Museveni got 26464 representing a 79.38%. It was followed by Amolatar which had 51276 valid votes cast and Museveni got 38619 representing 75.32% and then Kole District which gave him 70% votes out of the 66978 total valid votes cast.
In West Nile, the best District was Zombo which gave him 45578 votes out of 59906 valid votes cast representing 76.08%. It was followed by Adjumani where out of 46421 valid votes cast, Museveni got 35125 representing 75.67% while Koboko came in the 3rd position with 71.83% votes to Museveni.
The three worst performing districts in Teso were Soroti city (39.61%), Soroti District (55.5%) and Kaberamaido which gave 56.64% to the President.
In Lango, the three worst performing districts included Lira City (57.97%), Lira District (60.9%) and Dokolo 63.19% while in Acholi these were Gulu City (44.3%), Gulu District (50.39%) and lastly Kitgum which gave him 52.73% out of the 50980 valid votes cast! In West Nile, those which didn’t give Museveni more votes included Terego which gave him 51.11%, Arua city (53.98%) and Obongi 63.98% out of the 11999 valid votes cast.
CABINET APPOINTMENTS
TESO
Like the minister outlined in his remarks, this Sub-Region has the Vice President (Katakwi District), Speaker of Parliament (Bukedea District), Minister for Foreign Affairs (Amuria District) and six State Ministerial positions. They include that of Fisheries (Serere District), Teso affairs (Kalaki district), Energy (Kumi district), Disability (Ngora District), Works (Amuria district) and sports (Katakwi District).
Other key positions the Sub-Region holds include Governor Bank of Uganda, Principal Private Secretary to H.E, Deputy Chief of Defense Forces, Auditor General, Senior Presidential Advisor (Kaberamaido district), and also held the position of Director General ISO (RIP) in addition to and UNEB Secretary among others.
KARAMOJA
The Sub-Region holds one full position at cabinet level (Minister for Karamoja affairs), State Minister for Ethics (Karenga District) and State minister for disaster (Moroto). Other key positions they hold include Director Public Prosecution and Executive Director National Council for Higher Education.
ACHOLI
They initially had the position of Speaker of Parliament (RIP). He came from Omoro district. The Sub-Region also had the position of Deputy Inspector General of Police before (RIP). He hailed from Pader District.
Currently, Acholi controls the position of the Chief Justice of Uganda (Agago district), NRM Secretary General (Nwoya district), Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs (Gulu), State Minister for Environment (Kitgum district), Minister for disaster and relief (Lamwo district) and State Minister for relief (Kitgum district), State Minister for northern Uganda (Pader District) and State Minister for Foreign Affairs (Kitgum district).
LANGO
The Sub-Region boosts of three full cabinet ministers including Minister for Gender/Labor (Oyam district), Health Minister (Lira City) and Government Chief Whip (Alebtong District). Other key positions they hold include Ambassador to the powerful African Union (Alebtong district) and also head the Uganda National Cultural Center (Otuke). This is in addition to other technical positions in government like that of Permanent Secretary and Deputy Directorate of Interpol (Oyam district).
WEST NILE
Here, we have the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament (Adjumani District), State Minister for investment (Koboko district), State Minister for defense (Yumbe District) and Commander of Operation Shujaa (Zombo district).
PRECEDENT
In the current Cabinet, the Vice President hails from the same Sub-Region like the Speaker of Parliament. This is however, not the first time Gen. Museveni is doing it. In the 7th and 8th Parliaments for example, Museveni appointed Prof. Apollo Nsibambi (RIP) as Prime Minister but also went ahead and appointed Prof. Gilbert Bukenya as Vice President. In addition, he had Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi as Speaker of Parliament. These men from Kabaka’s land occupied these positions for two terms until he knifed both Bukenya and Nsibambi in 2011 but elevated Ssekandi to the position of Vice President.
However, whereas Nsibambi was an Anglican, both Ssekandi and Bukenya were Catholics. This is in contrast with the current set up where all the three occupants of these coveted seats are all ladies and subscribe to the same Catholic faith. However, in this case, the Prime Minister hails from Bunyoro while the VP and Speaker hail from Teso Sub-Region. The President has however, persistently clarified that in making his appointments, he considers one’s ability to perform and historical contribution to the movement but not religion or gender. He also asserts that the appointments are not for the region but primarily to benefit the holder and his family hence undoing the notion of ‘ffe tebatuwadde’ (our region has been left out)!
