Japs Vs Iteso - Cultural or Economic War?

Byline: Gerald Bareebe and Isaac Imaka

Mr Suleiman Wasoko Luboti is a retired driver and resident of Tororo Municipality. The 64-year-old has lived here since he was 20 and says he has not felt unsettled like in the past days after Cabinet announced its decision to split Tororo into Mukuju and Kisoko districts.

"The government should be bold enough and spilt this district. Failure to do so will be postponing the problem," he said. "The truth is that the two tribes can no longer peacefully live together."

The agitation for a district status for the Iteso of Tororo started in 1998. In 2005 when President Museveni held a rally at Mukuju Sub-county headquarters, a brave Iteso ate a live rat to demonstrate to the President that there is a cultural variation between the Iteso and the Jopadhola. This action prompted Mr Museveni to institute two commissions of inquiry, the Prof. Foster Byarugaba commission and that of Dr Crispus Kiyonga.

Both commissions recommended for the split of Tororo into Mukuju and Kisoko districts and also contended that the municipality remains in Mukuju.

Tracing the origin