ODM leader Raila Odinga has promised to build a palace for the King of the Iteso and a cultural centre for the community in remembrance of the late Iteso King Emorimor Augustine Lemukol Papa Osuban.
The two investments will be located in Soroti district in Eastern Uganda. The Iteso regard Soroti as their headquarters.
The former prime minister said the ODM party will facilitate groundbreaking and completion activities of the two structures.
If the idea is actualised, the palace will be the second to be built for a King in Uganda by non-Ugandans.
The first of such a palace was constructed in 2001 for the Queen mother of Tooro Kingdom Best Kemigisha by then Libyan President Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
The palace is occupied by the King of Tooro Kingdom Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
The structure was built in 1963, but was ruined after the abolition of kingdoms by President Idi Amin Dada.
Raila made the revelation on Friday in a speech read on his behalf by National Resistance Movement Eastern Uganda chairman Mike Mukula during the requiem mass for the late King Emorimor Augustine Lemukol Papa Osuban in Soroti.
Lemukol died on February 5 at Mulago National Hospital in Kampala. He had earlier been admitted to Soroti Regional Hospital with Covid-19 related complications before being referred to Mulago.
Raila in his speech said the promise will be fulfilled.
“I had a commitment with Papa Emorimor, myself and our party ODM, which has very strong support among the Iteso community, we will help set up a cultural centre and a palace for the community. We will do everything in our ability to make this happen, in honour of Papa,” Raila said.
“As a party, and as a leader, we look forward to working closely with the people of Uganda to strengthen the ties of the two countries and our people. That is what Papa stood for and wished.”
Raila has for more than a decade enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Iteso.
The community occupies two subcounties in Kenya—Teso North and Teso South in Busia county. The Iteso are also spread in neighbouring subcounties of Nambale and Matayos.
Besides, the community has a footprint in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia.
Other members of the community are found in South Sudan and Ethiopia.
“The Iteso community has an overwhelming presence in this region, extending from Ethiopia, through Sudan to various parts of Uganda, all the way to Kenya. Despite colonial boundaries that put this community in at least four nations, the Iteso know they are one. They recognise themselves as one people wherever they find themselves,” Raila said.
“I knew Papa as a highly respected cultural leader, who believed firmly that East Africans, and, indeed, Africans are one people wherever they find themselves. That formed the basis of my close working relationship and friendship with him. That is why as a family and as ODM party, we celebrate his life and recognise his stewardship of the Iteso community and our region for 22 years.”
Lemukol died after serving as King since 2000 when he was elected.
He will be remembered for his advocacy in promoting agriculture among the Iteso.
He spearheaded the planting of at least one fruit tree in every homestead in Teso.
With a master’s degree and sound training in Agriculture that saw him rise to the position of Commissioner of Agriculture in the republic of Uganda, Emorimor did not abandon the Iteso culture, Raila said.
“Instead, he saw his education and experience as the more reason to cling firmly to the traditions of his people and to champion the oneness of East Africa and Africa,” the ODM party leader said.
He said with the demise of the King, East Africa had lost a stalwart of culture who proved in word and deed that the divisions between people and nations are only artificial.
“In Kenya Papa has left us with the Iteso Cultural Centre at the Bomas of Kenya as a permanent mark of our oneness as a people and his efforts to bring our region together. It is a centre we shall always cherish and keep going,” he said.
The Iteso Cultural Union chairman and prominent businessman Sande Emolot has taken over the Iteso leadership until elections to elect a new Kin are conducted.
-Edited by SKanyara
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