Acholi seek truce after cultural institution falls into disrepute
The Acholi cultural institution has fallen into disarray after 31 clan chiefs decided to boycott the leadership of the current paramount chief Rwot Onen David Acana II and elected Rwot Santo Apire as their preferred paramount chief.
Local, political, and religious leaders are now calling for peace talks but both factions are insisting the other is illegitimate.
The tension at the Acholi cultural institution climaxed after a photo taken on the night of Friday, June 14, 2024, showing the 31 clan chiefs allegedly casting their votes to elect the Atiak chiefdom Rwot Santo Apire as the rival paramount chief of the Acholi people.
Robert Adongakullu, speaking on behalf of the rival group of the Acholi clan chiefs, said the question of legitimacy of the election is cause for a debate for another day.
"We had 31 clan chiefs who took part in the election," he said.
The election, which took place in Kitgum after the Police had initially stopped the event, has shocked the local political and religious leadership.
"Our cultural leaders, they are supposed to be exemplary. If they fight like us the politicians, then i do not know where we are going to lean to," said Gulu City Woman MP Betty Aol Ocan.
A section of clan chiefs allegedly electing Apire as a paramount chief on Friday, June 14 | Courtesy-Wilfred Tekwo
A letter that surfaced on the internet two days ago purportedly written by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau has escalated the situation.
The letter cites that the registration done in February 2024 by Rwot Santo Apire and the other rival clan chiefs for gazettement of the Acholi cultural institution constitution has been expunged and the certificate banned.
Sheikh Muzamil Ismael Mandela, the Acholi Muslim District khadi, has called on the locals to stop fanning the tension between the two cultural factions.
"If we are tolerant with our leaders we don't question or we don't talk about them recklessly on social media like it is the trend, this is not right (because) this brings about the destruction of the nation," Sheikh Mandela said.
Atiak Town Council chairman Ken Okot called upon the politicians to distance themselves from adding salt to an already exposed wound of the Ker Kwaro Acholi cultural institution.
The genesis of the fight within the Acholi cultural institution can be traced back to June 2023 when the chief of Atiak clan and a few others broke off from the leadership of the paramount chief Rwot Acana, accusing him of failure to develop the institution, corruption and a lack of the constitution.
"The Rwodi (clan chiefs) were within their mandate to withdraw their trust, it was a vote of no confidence so as far as we are concerned he is not there legally and lawfully," said Adongakullu.
However, Rwot Acana has stood his ground, calling the Rwot Apire-led clan chiefs "illegitimate".
The rival faction has set two months for the installation of Rwot Apire as the paramount chief.
