Police blocks district council from honoring dead former official

Tororo. Police on Tuesday deployed at the Tororo District headquarters denying access to none staff of the district and declared it as a scene of crime.

This was after the Tororo District council had reportedly planned to hold a special council session to honor one of its former district councilors who passed away over the weekend. The session, however, raised the eye brows of some councilors from Tororo County.

The deceased was Humphrey Oluge who represented Kirewa Sub County in West Budama North between 2001 and 2005, as its area district councilor.

All those who managed to get into the district headquarters presented workplace Identity cards or national Identity cards after undergoing thorough body check by the security officers that had been deployed at the entry gate.

Security checks were mandatory to all government and private vehicles before they would be allowed to enter into the compound of the district headquarters.

The deployment, according to the Resident District Commissioner Nixon Owole, was due to leaked intelligence information that indicated that a section of district councilors from one part of the district (Tororo County) had mobilized their subjects to cause chaos during the session which would have resulted into a security problem.

Owole said that honoring the former leader would not be a problem but basing on the tension in the district, it was better to call off the session so that no side claims victory.

He said, "the action was just an enforcement of the earlier decision that was arrived at during a meeting chaired by the security minister Elly Tumwine at the ministry’s board room. The meeting, attended by a selected number of district councilors from both West Budama and Tororo County and a section of senior security chiefs from the large Eastern region, suspended holding of any council business since the district executive committee is non-functional until government gives its position to end the outstanding tribal conflict."
The district speaker John Okeya said that due to the deployment, they advised the relatives of the deceased not to bring the body even though the district council had prepared to honor the deceased.

Meanwhile the acting district LCV chairperson Ms. Stella Imukutet denied having any knowledge about the proposed special council meeting adding that keeping her in the dark meant that the speaker had a hidden agenda.
“I was not aware until when I reached at the gate and found police deployed at the gate who also asked for my identity card since some of them did not know me and later subjected my official vehicle to security checks before allowing me in,’’ she said.
“I think police were doing their normal work of enforcing law and order and if the speaker saw that giving honor to the deceased councilor was due then he should have informed my office’’ she added.