By James Alele in London
October 26, 2008
Members of Lango Association UK had a very successful Extraordinary General Meeting on Saturday 25 October, at St. Mathew’s Church Hall, Dyson Road, Stratford East London and resolved to concentrate on what unites them as Langi in spite of political differences.
In his opening remarks the Chairman of Lango Association UK Mr. Alex Okullu (left) thanked members of Lango community for turning up for this very important meeting.
He said the result of the meeting was being anxiously awaited by the people at home especially the Paramount Chief Mzee Yosam Odur and members of Lango Parliamentary Group. He therefore urged people to be open minded during the meeting.
Mr Okullo said it was alleged in the Red Pepper that while addressing local leaders in Kole County, Apac District on September 10, Mr. Olet Egwea revealed that some members of the association had been sourcing funds to support some rebel groups terrorizing Uganda and that Egwea had to resign the position of general secretary of the organization because he never wanted to support the motive of funding the Lords Resistant Army.
The allegation has been extremely damaging to the Association’s integrity and has caused a lot of confusion and distress among members of Lango community, Alex Okullu said.
Egwea however stated clearly that Lango Association is in his heart that he loves the organisation dearly, maintaining that as an executive member of Lango Association he never ever witnessed any attempts by any of his colleagues to raise funds for the said purpose and would therefore like the record to be put straight.
Egwea strongly refuted the allegation that he accused Lango Association of raising funds to support LRA, but acknowledged that he had said some people were still hostile to the NRM government probably due to our violent past.
He also said he resigned from the position of General Secretary of the association in order to join active national politics and not because of the reason alleged by the Red Pepper.
Recently, Olet Egwea, an executive member of NRM UK and Ireland Chapter had a very successful mobilization tour of Lango during which NRM offices were inaugurated in all the 5 districts and in Kole Constituency where he comes from.
The speech that Mr. Egwea made while in Uganda was then played to the members, but it had no mention of Lango Association as alleged in the Red Pepper, although he said some people were not happy about the peace talks between the government and LRA.
Olet Egwea apologized to the members of Lango community in the Diaspora and back home for his remarks, adding that he did not mean to hurt anyone. He said he would write to Ugandan government to clear the misconception of what he actually said and this was highly welcomed by the members.
He also assured fellow Langi in the diaspora that nobody’s life was under threat following the allegations because the Government of Uganda knows that no member of Lango Association UK supports terrorists.
A statement from Mr Mike Ogwal from USA was also read by an executive member of Lango Association. Mr Ogwal expressed concerns that Lango still faces lots of inequalities in development under the NRM government, and called upon the Langi to rise up against the government. But participants distanced themselves from Mr Ogwal’s militant approach instantly.
Instead, people resolved to concentrate on what unites them as Langi and what can ensure everlasting peace and sustainable development in the region regardless of political affiliations.
“We are peaceful people who have never taken up arms against the NRM government. I am a professional engineer and I do not support Mr Ogwal’s position”, said Mr John Okello, who has been involved in a number of development projects in Lango including donation of computers to Dr Obote College.
The meeting was attended by about 30 people including Mr Alan Jones, who is helping the association to secure funds for an agricultural college, and people from the Acholi and other Ugandan communities. The meeting ended on a positive note as people shook hands and warmly embraced each other.
“Now we can put this entire saga behind us and move forward as one people with a common destiny. We should now work together in partnership with the government of Uganda to ensure speedy recovery of Northern Uganda from decades of conflict”, Egwea concluded.
The writer is a journalist based in the UK.
e-mail: jamesalele@yahoo.co.uk Telephone: +447932418544
Filed under: London UK
