The Administration of Tekwaro Lango has asked the Minister of State for Gender and Culture, Peace Mutuuzo, to retract statements claiming the leader of Tekwaro Lango, Dr. Eng. Michael Moses Odongo Okune, has resigned.

In a statement dated November 9, 2023, Tekwaro Lango said Dr. Okune is fully committed to the ongoing reconciliation, emphasizing that he hasn’t resigned as alleged by Mutuuzo.

“It’s true that our leader is in total support of reconciliation, and he is closely guiding the team from Tekwaro Lango to embrace unity to foster peace among the people of Lango. We therefore wish to caution Minister Mutuuzo against issuing statements that could hamper the ongoing process,” the statement reads in part.

On November 8, 2023, Mutuuzo issued a local media statement claiming the leader, Okune, had resigned and that the government was happy about the move. This statement has since sparked bitter reactions among Lango people, including the leadership of Tekwaro Lango.

This follows the reconciliation drive between the two rivaling factions of cultural institutions in Lango, with the aim of appointing one cultural leader in due course.

George Ojwang Opota, the Prime Minister of Tekwaro Lango, said that they are committed to a peace process to ensure that Lango gets only one leader.

“We are glad that, as Owitong (clan chiefs) in Lango from the two factions have come together to reconcile and work together, and this is not about  Okune or Odur Yosam; we know that as clan leaders, we can reconcile and work together. We want Mutuuzo to keep quiet about our affairs and retract her statement about the alleged resignation of our leader,” Opota says.

The two factions had earlier held a meeting at the Lango Cultural Centre in Lira City, in which they agreed to immediately study the two constitutions to guide the incoming appointment of a new Paramount chief.

Two factions of clan heads aligned with the Tekwaro Lango and Lango Cultural Foundation recently launched a reconciliation drive that aims at reconciling and ensuring that a unifying leader is appointed following the notification to step down by Yosam Odur’s administration in 2024.