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Lango people prefer sleeping to working, says cultural leader
George Ojwang Opota, the Prime Minister of Tekwaro Lango addresses journalists on the International Labour Day in Lira City on May 1, 2023. PHOTO BY BILL OKETCH
What you need to know:
The poverty situation in the region is disturbing. According to the National Population and Housing Census 2014, in Oyam District some families couldn't afford two meals a day
Tekwaro Lango Prime Minister, Mr George Ojwang Opota, stated that the Lango Tribal Group prefers to sleep rather than work, suggesting that they are actually poor because they spend a lot of time sleeping.
“We need to open our eyes, change our mindset and work extremely hard if we are to achieve sustainable development in the sub-region. I heard a scholar say that most people in Lango work for only three hours. They spend 9 hours without doing anything and sleep for 12 hours. How can you develop if you work for only three hours?” Mr Ojwang asked.
He made the remarks during the celebrations to mark International Labour Day at Tekwaro Lango’s office located on Oyam Road, Lira City, on Monday.
Mr Ojwang said many people, especially in Lango, are wallowing in poverty because they are too lazy to work.
“In our villages, people go to the gardens and dig for only about two hours before returning home and they spend much of their time on leisure. If we don’t change our mindset we shall remain in the vicious cycle of poverty,” he said.
The poverty situation in the region is disturbing. According to the National Population and Housing Census 2014, in Oyam District some families couldn't afford two meals a day. According to statistics, 3,940 households (12.8%), Alebtong; 2,964 households (12.0%); Kole: 5,110 households (10.5 percent); Lira: 2,016 households (8.0 percent) were surviving on one meal a day.
In Apac, 1,028 households (7.8%), Amolatar: 1,352 households (4.8 percent); Dokolo: 900 households (4.5%) had members aged 5 years and above that consumed less than two meals a day.
Interestingly, the perceptual study on happiness and well-being conducted in Alebtong, Dokolo, Lira, and Oyam in January 2018 revealed that communities in the Lango region are very happy; “they are so satisfied with life but they are very poor.”
Out of the 402 participants interviewed, 86.5 per cent felt satisfied with life, but as the researchers dug deeper into their standard of living, the majority of the respondents were found to be very poor.
People in Alebtong were found to be the happiest compared to their counterparts in Dokolo, Lira, and Oyam. But considering their income levels, they are poorer than their counterparts in the study areas.
The study said that in general, 43 per cent of the people in the study areas were very happy. And only 3 per cent of poor people were unhappy.
