Many residents of Amuru were on Friday angered during Museveni’s campaign in the district when the deputy speaker Jacob Oulanyah told the president not to talk about compensation for those who lost animals during the two-decade long war in northern Uganda.
Oulanyah who spoke before the president at a rally at Pabbo primary school in Amuru district told the president that the Attorney General was already handling the matter.
“I have been in Acholi sub region since Monday. I went through the sub-region. There is this issue of Acholi war debt claimant. It would not be your[president’s] responsibility to explain, because the office of the Attorney general has already sent officials who are now handling the verification process,’’ Oulanyah said.
Olanya was speaking in English so many people at the rally missed what he said but those who understood expressed their disapproval.
Ajok Margret 55 told Acholi Times it was inappropriate for Olanya to talk on behalf of the president.
“Was it Jacob Olanya who sent the Attorney general staff? Why couldn’t he allow the president to explain it for himself,” Ajok said.
NRM members who spoke off record to Acholi Times said the deputy speaker behaved as if he were blocking something. They did not explain what it could be.
The Acholi War Debt Claimants, a lobby group of those who lost property and animals during the war in northern Uganda has been rocked by conflicts between its members over allegations of corruption and giving money meant for members to non-members.
The office of the Attorney General has asked the past and present leadership of the lobby to account for 7.1 billion shillings it has so far received for government on behalf of its more than 20,000 members spread across the Acholi sub region.
Many people who turned for Museveni’s rally in Pabbo said they expected the president to talk about pledges like a school truck for Pabbo and the contentious Apaa land issue, but the president did not say much about the subject.
