Mt. Elgon Leaders Call For Division Of Constituency
Political and opinion leaders from Mount Elgon have in unison expressed their desire to have more wards, sub counties, and even their own county.
In the Friday peace meeting held by KAREU MPYA CBO in collaboration with USAID and ACT! at Kapsokwony, which incorporated youth leaders, village elders, and former elected and nominated politicians, all communities within the region vowed to push the division agenda.
Jane Chepkorom, the former nominated MCA, proposed an all-inclusive forum to bring together all leaders from the Sabaot, Teso, and Luhyas, who are the majority occupants of Mt. Elgon.
“All leaders from these three tribes need to come together and exchange ideas in the spirit of peace and development so that they can amicably deliberate on the division and equality of opportunities and resources across the constituency,” reiterated Chepkorom.
In concurrent with her sentiments, a woman leader from Kaptama challenged the Sabaots, who are the original inhabitants of Mt. Elgon, to emulate the Teso in their quest to achieve their goal and grow.
“I come from Teso and married at Kaptama. Being a leader in my capacity, I urge us to embrace unity of purpose, more so since we’re a cosmopolitan area. Accepting other tribes to thrive amongst us is one way of achieving the goal of development, advised the woman leader.
The greatest impediment to development, which has been a thorn in the flesh since time immemorial, as captured by the clergy, is patriarchy and backward cultural beliefs.
“It’s high time the Sabaot became enlightened to mitigate internal conflict by first involving women elders who have never been included in the community’s decision-making; youths have also been left out, and they’re key players in every aspect of society,” observed one of the pastors present.
Herbert Sile, an opinion leader representing the youth agenda, noted that it would be ideal for Mt. Elgon elites to join hands and form a political movement that would be a steering wheel to negotiate with the county and national governments.
“We’re tired of being used by other people as political vehicles, especially during campaigns, and after we’ve voted as a block, no one looks back to even support us,” lamented Sile.
Formerly elected MCA Hillary Kiptalam advised the Council of Elders to present the Mabanga accord, which has apparently been politicised and abused by some officials who’ve for 15 years thrived on propaganda.
“It’s prudent that the Mabanga accord be revisited by bringing it to Wananchi so that they can read it and understand. Ethnic profiling has also been rampant, but I’m happy to report that since last year, I’ve seen some changes, which I hope we shall uphold,” reiterated Kiptalam.
The former Elgon MCA also mentioned that the area MP, Fred Kapondi, who wasn’t in the meeting, had declared full support to fellow elected leaders in all capacities to necessitate a sub-division of Mt. Elgon.
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