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Soroti, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Soroti District Local Government has finally handed over three plots of land to the Iteso Cultural Union. The plots 15-17 located along Serere road were officially handed over on Tuesday in a function presided over by the second Deputy Prime Minister Iteso Cultural Union, Valerian Ejalu, and the Soroti district chairperson, Simon Peter Edoru Ekuu.
On December 30, 2021, the union’s Council chairperson, Paul Sande Emolot arranged a meeting to receive the land from the district but the function was cut short when Augustine Osuban Emorimor, the Iteso Paramount Chief and his cabinet failed to show up.
Emorimor in his letter written to Emolot prior to the scheduled date, said that the Council had no power to convene the meeting to receive the land since they had been suspended.
Emorimor suspended the council and dissolved the Electoral Commission in June 2021 following a petition from the house of elders over alleged irregularities and inconsistencies during the 2019 council elections.
The land donated by the district is the first and only asset acquired by the institution since its inception in 1997. The cabinet hopes to use the land to erect office space and accommodation for Emorimor in Soroti. Since his installation, Emorimor operates from his home in Abilayep- Serere town council.
Ejalu says that the union has never had the opportunity to acquire any assets because of limited resources.
During the first meeting for the land giveaway, Edoru sent his deputy to represent him. He however says that his deputy didn’t hand over the land after hearing the issues in the meeting.
In the Iteso Cultural Union Constitution, Emorimor’s palace should be constructed in Soroti as the mother district of the Teso sub-region. At the initial stages of the Union, Soroti municipality then offered land to the institution for the construction of the palace but it was in the forest reserve.
According to Ejalu, plans to degazzete the forest reserve were not successful, prompting the institution to search for land.
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