Is Achana Acholi Monarch or Presidential Assistant?

Recently, David Onen Achana II, who is often inaccurately referred to by the media and ignoramouses as "Acholi Paramount Chief", waded into controversy by seeming to oposed positions of Acholi parliamentarians on large land acquisitions for so-called investors. Local people and their political and traditional leaders had made it clear that, any large-scale agro-investments that take away considerable acreages of land from the local population, could not be considered or approved at the moment until all the foricibly displaced and confined people in the concentration camps of northern Uganda have been resettled to their original homesteads and land. Only after an assessment of their needs and the carrying capacity of Acholiland have been established, could any intelligent planning and particular land uses be approved, beyong that necessary for basic needs, self-reliance, food self-sufficiency and food security.

Unfortunately, David Onen Achana II, the chairperson of Acholi Council of Chiefs or Lawi Rwodi-(NOT Paramount Chief-Acholi has never had a unified, centralised monarchy)-accepted to be "appointed" by Yoweri Museveni, to pressure locals in Lamogi, to accept the Madhvani plans. First, it is belittling for Achana, an Acholi chief, to run errands for Museveni. Second, the people of Lamogi, through their traditional leaders, political leaders and elite, had rejected the way the Madhvanis were using the state, including the president, ministers and local officials to brow-beat them into surrendering their lands for sugar cane plantation and seem not to take their "NO, Not Now"for an answer.

Recently, Rwot Achana, through his office, and using his "prime minister", Kenneth Oketa, allowed the Madhvani group to travel the length and breadth of Auru district, showing cane production processes to the villagers in the camps. This clearly seems to disregard, ridicule and challenge the positions put forward by Acholi parliamentarians and the consensus of Acholi that, investors such as Madhvani, should wait until the camps are disbanded and people have returned home and their land needs met. Noting the behaviour of the so called Acholi King, were are forced to make the following comments:

1. Does Achana get political advice? Yes or No; did anyone tell him, or did he hear about the positions of the APG, the Lamogi Clan Government: that whatever the merits of the Madhvani plans or whatever plans government has for industrialisation, poverty eradication -and whatever labels you may give-in northern Uganda, anything requiring large expanse of land, must wait until all the people in the concentration camps have returned home and settled on their land? The Lamogi Clan Government represents the clans and chiefdoms of Lamogi, and therefore the people of Lamogi, who are the primary stakeholdes and owners of the land in Apaa, Omee and Lamogi at large; and they have, through their political and cultural representations, said this is a bad time to push the Madhvani plan ahead of critical issues of basice needs that challenge many in Acholi today. Which other people, according to Achana, need to be persuaded by the Madhvanis through his office?

2. Is Achana Lawi Rodi Pa Acholi or Presidential Assistant in Acholi? Yes or No; which Acholi is proud of Ker Kal Kwaro Acholi, whose head is being sent to run errands for Yoweri Museveni, as if he were an office messenger? Even if I really were such a blindly and madly monarchy-enamoured Acholi that mindlessly fawn on Ker Kal Kwaro Acholi and Achana as my monarch, I would draw the line at my monarch carrying and fetching for another man with questionalble political and leadership credentials, leave alone legitimacy, and particularly if such a man were Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, a man to be associated more with the hoplessness and gravity of the human security situation in Acholi than as part of solutions to it. Which side of history is Achana on; and whatever it is, I am afraid to say, an Acholi citizen like me, am not going to follow him there; not even for the two million or five million that Museveni's government gives in monthly stipends; no; Acholi suffering for ther last 22 years and Acholi future is not worth 2,000,000 worthless Uganda shllings, Rwot Achana.

3. I am not a fan of centralised Acholi monarchy. I am not against Acholi traditional leadership through the various autonomous clan heads and chiefdoms. Moreover, I am a fan of a structure that would bring all Acholi clans and chiefdoms together and their head, chairman or Lawi Rwodi, is periodically and democratically elected from among their peers of clan leaders and chiefs-including women-for a five or so year term and incumbents only limited to two successive terms. What we are seeing, the contradictions, the disrespect, are realistic consequences of an institution foisted upon the people by the state and international NGOs, where there was never an organic, historical, social, political, and philosophical and material conditions to support it. It is the reason why it must depend on government handouts and it should be swayed to play tunes called by those who pay the piper, rather than sing tunes being hummed by its so called subjects and their dire needs.

4. Do not get me wrong; despite the missteps in the creation of the Acholi centralised and hereditary monarchy, even a cynic like me is willing to concede it some grounds of relevance. However, such relevance assumes independence from extraneous interests that are harmful to the wellbeing and future of the Acholi people, and a greater degree of autonomy in thought and actions, in dealing with matters critical to the broad and specific interests of the Acholi people. However, that Ker Kal Kwaro Acholi depends on meagre government handouts and the state uses that to hamstring Ker Kal Kwaro and belittle our King to run errands as if he were a Richard Todwong, Santo Okot Lapolo, Walter Ochora Odoch, Y.K. Komakech, Nahaman Ojwee, Omwony Ogaba and such other puppets without scruples, erodes any respect and honour that any Acholi invest in the institution and incumbent.

5. The first step for Rwot Achana to redeem himself and save the insitution of Ker Kal Kwaro Acholi from a cardiac arrest, is to fire so called "Prime minister" Kenneth Oketa Akena, dissolve his government, and wean itself from state monthly stipends that is being used to constrain his independence and acting in the best interest of his people. The second step is for the Achana and Ker kal Kwaro to appeal to Acholi worldwide, to support the institution if they want it to act exclusively for Acholi interests. Once these are done, both Rwot Achana and the institution of Ker Kal Kwaro Acholi, buy from me and cynics like me and other alienated Acholi citizens and clans, the benefit of doubts and willingness to join up with other proud Acholi to make up for what the institution gives up in the form of government support.

6. For Achana to characterise APG, Lamogi Clan Government and popular Acholi position on land and against the Madhvani schemes as merely politics, is mind-boggling at best and profoundly naive to the extend of strenghtening the notion that the office of Lawi Rwodi does Acholi more harm than good.