Rival Acholi chiefs set date for electing new Paramount Chief

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A section of Clan chiefs under the Acholi Cultural Institution have released a road map for the election of a new Paramount Chief of Acholi to replace Rwot David Onen Acana II.

The chiefs parted ways with Acana in June last year after accusing him of allegedly failing to discharge his responsibilities, failure to set up a constitution, and mismanagement of resources among others at the cultural institution.

Rwot John Ogenga, the Deputy Interim Chairperson of the breakaway faction of chiefs told journalists Wednesday in Gulu City that they have set June 14 this year as the date for electing a new Paramount Chief.

According to Ogenga, the election will be held in Kitgum Municipality and comes against the backdrop of the gazettement of a draft constitution that guides the operation of the cultural institution. A copy of the constitution seen by Uganda Radio Network was gazetted in the Uganda Gazette on April 19 this year.

Ogenga says the cultural institution under the leadership of Rwot Acana has been operating without a working constitution which has necessitated their move to draft one.

“We have reached the point where we now need to conduct an election. The committee sat down and with advice from all chiefs, the election has been scheduled for June 14, 2024. This election is for all the Chiefs in Acholi, no one has been left out. We have sent notification to all parts of Acholi to send their chiefs to participate in this election slated for June 14, 2024…,” he said.

Justine Ociti Binyi, the Chief of Pagak Clan, who is in charge of finance and administration among the rival chiefs says the election will be by way of secret ballot voting and will be presided over by an interim speaker.

According to Binyi, the committee has since appointed Canon Joseph Oneka, a former member of the constitutional commission in 1995 to head the election.

“On election day, we shall get a temporary speaker whom we have now appointed and accepted the offer. The temporary speaker will be Canon Joseph Oneka, he was a former, member of the Constitutional Commission of Uganda in 1995, and he will be the one heading the election. He is a trusted person and knowledgeable in the constitutional affairs,” he said.

Binyi notes that the election will be transparently undertaken using rules and procedures of election already registered with the Uganda Registration Service Bureau (URSB). He encourages all chiefs in the 58 chiefdoms in Acholi interested in the paramount Chief position to open up about their interest in the nomination.

Binyi says other members of the secretariat to be elected come June 14 are two deputy Paramount Chiefs and a speaker.

According to the newly gazetted constitution of Acholi Cultural Institution, the tenure of office for the newly elected Paramount Chief of Acholi will be for a five-year term and renewable only once. The candidate for the coming election according to the interim committee will be nominated by a member of the Council of Chiefs and seconded by at least two other members of the council and must be dully installed per the tradition and customs of his clans.

Okello Okuna, the Spokesperson of the Acholi Cultural Institution acknowledged receiving notification of the election but rubbished the move arguing that Rwot Acana remains the legitimate head of the Acholi Cultural Institution.

“We have just received funding for our project from the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, this means we are still recognized by the government. The rival factions are wasting their time, and their election won’t succeed because they don’t have the two-thirds required quorum of chiefs,” Okuna told URN Thursday.

Okuna notes that they have instituted an investigation to verify the authenticity of signatures of chiefs purportedly used to support the gazettement of the new constitution arguing that some could be fake.

Rwot Acana was installed on January 15, 2005, as the Acholi Paramount Chief and replaced his father Godfrey Erecenia Acana who died in October 1999. Acana is the 24th traditional chief of the Payira clan.

But his critics say while Rwot Acana was entrusted to head the Acholi Chiefdom, the leadership of the institution doesn’t entirely remain in the hands of Payira Chiefdom arguing the leadership should be rotational in all the 58 chiefdoms.

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URN