Lugbara paramount chief to be elected next month

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Lugbara Cultural Institution has set Friday March 10, 2023 as the date for election of the new paramount chief locally known as Agofe. The position fell vacant following the death of His Highness Jason Avutia III on January 23, 2023, at his home in Zambia cell, Mvara Ward, Arua city after a long battle with an unknown illness.

Moses Mandebo, the Minister for Information, Communication, and Technology in the Lugbara Cultural Institution says that although they initially planned to hold the election for the new paramount chief on February 01, 2023, the executive postponed the elections following the death of Avutia.

He notes that the select committee put in place by the elder’s council that has started receiving expressions of interest for the position from potential candidates.

According to the roadmap, the select committee is expected to declare their findings about the candidates and present them before the general assembly due next month for selection. Tuku Ismail, the prime minister of the Lugbara cultural institution has commended the processing, saying this was the wish of Avutia III before his death.

This will be the fourth paramount chief of the Lugbara after Jalusiga who ruled during colonial times, Marko Boroa who assumed power after independence in 1962, and His Highness Jason Avutia III who died recently.

The Lugbara Cultural Institution which brings together different clans of the Lugbara in Arua, Terego, and Maracha districts including Arua City started as an association of elders in 1962 before it evolved into a cultural institution in 2000.

In June 2015, the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development officially recognized the Lugbara Kari Cultural Institution although it has not been gazetted.

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