President @KagutaMuseveni has stirred controversy in the Tororo district after declaring a hands-off approach to the long-standing division dispute between the Iteso and Japadhola communities. This article is a direct transcription of what Dr Tanga Odoi said on 19th November 2024 on NBS TV about the rumours of dividing Tororo.
Who is causing rumours of dividing Tororo according to Tanga Odoi?
I think, first things first, the presidency, right? Whether you go into the history of Tororo and follow that history from 1923, there will be a group that will say, “We don’t understand, and we don’t want to hear that history. You’ll waste more time when you go into coloniality and colonial maps. What is the issue in Tororo? The problem in Tororo is about politics and the politicization of ethnicity. No group in Tororo will fight any war, whether it’s divided or not divided. But because it benefits a few politicians who go to Parliament via that route, they escalate what is not even there.
Why dividing Tororo will not help
I want to understand what is wrong with Tororo’s search for affirmative action to improve social and socioeconomic welfare. Even if you divide Tororo into 78 districts and don’t tackle the root cause of poverty, how does it help the household? My argument has been that Tororo used to be the hub—almost the third industrial belt in Uganda. Tororo used to be the food basket of Western Kenya.
What has gone wrong? Is it because the Tororo district has not been divided? Is it because they don’t control the town? The issue in Tororo is leadership, and the current leaders are simply using the ethnic divide and the issue of municipality or land ownership to get votes. But there is nothing substantial.
Why Museveni left the Tororo dispute according to Tanga Odoi
Why do you think President Museveni has washed his hands to resolve this matter? Local issues need local interventions. If you don’t want dialogue, what is the alternative? Is it war? Why would you fight a war for Tororo? The President says the local people should sit together and sort themselves out. That gives us leverage rather than saying this was imposed on us.
You remember that districts were created. Mukuju district was created for Tororo County, and they said no. When they proposed creating the Kisoko district, we also asked, “Who has asked you for a district?” I’m asking for affirmative action. How do we improve schools so that we lead in education? How do we improve the economy so that we have a base?
Why Dr Tanga Odoi is against dividing Tororo
Tororo does not have any economic cash crops. It does not have cotton, coffee, or cattle. We enjoy revenue contributed by other parts of the country, and yet we make noise. Our politicians are always pretenders in Parliament, saying things will be bad and people will die. Nobody will be killed because Tororo has not been divided, and no one should take us into sentimentality and war because they want votes by dividing the people.
Let us sit as a team and decide what we want. If we want more tractors, cultivators, or road equipment, if we want more water bowsers, let’s advocate for affirmative action. Let us follow the President’s guidance. The land is there. How do the people use it? Does having a smaller district make a difference, or do we need more interventions?
Where does this leave the district? Division brings issues of delayed service delivery. But we are going to take them on. They are not masters of everything. They are simple politicians. Woman MP Saropendi and Anura Apollo—they must sit together and work together. They are not our bosses. We, the electorate, send them there.
It is rubbish to watch schools failing and then say Museveni should divide the district. How does the division of the district improve Kwapa Primary School? How does it improve Kisoko Boys or Kisoko Girls? We want to improve our conditions as a district. That does not require division.
