The creation of Omoro is likely to cost Gulu its current District Council Speaker and the Vice Chairperson Local Council V.
Both Douglas Peter Okello and Isaac Newton Ojok are District Councilor Vs representing Sub Counties that were curved out to form part of the new Omoro district.
Okello was twice nominated as the best district in the country by a public policy think-thank, ACODE. He was re-elected as Councilor V representing Lalogi Sub County in the district council in the just concluded elections. He is the favourite to become the Interim District Chairperson of the new district.
Meanwhile since being appointed the District LCV Chairperson in 2013 by Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, a member of the opposition FDC party, Ojok who is NRM, has not been dropped from his post despite his boss being FDC.
According to Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, the District LCV Chairperson, Gulu will lose ten (10) district councilors to Omoro once it becomes operational in July this year.
Mapenduzi says the Councilors will act as an Electoral College and will chose the interim district Chairperson who will double as the Speaker until when election is conducted.
He adds that among the councilors, Secretaries will also be chosen to work with the interim district local government.
Currently, Gulu district officials are in talks with the Local Government Ministry on how to share the human resources with the Omoro ahead of the new financial year.
Omoro was curved out of Gulu by Parliament and it is expected to become functional on July 1, this year.
Early this month, Gulu District Local Council proposed a budget estimates of revenue and expenditures of 16.2 billion shillings to fund new Omoro district in the new financial year 2016/2017.
The budget estimates was tabled before councilors at the Gulu district council hall by Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, the district LCV Chairperson who also doubles as the Secretary for Finance and Planning during council during the 27th full council meeting.
The budget estimate has now been referred to the respective committees for scrutiny before it is re-tabled before the district council for approval in early April.
Mapenduzi listed fourteen (14) areas as top priorities for the new district. Among them are; enhancing accountability and good governance, strengthening financial management, increased agricultural production and land management and forest conservation among others.
Damasco Odongo, ( representing Lakwana) one of the Sub Counties in Omoro County welcomed the budget estimates and said Omoro district will begin on a good footing considering the experience its to-be officials have gained from Gulu district.
However Odongo cautioned that unless technical staff that will be deployed in the new district are people who love their job, the district will face challenges.
Central government is expected to fund around 86 percent of over 16 billion shillings in conditional grants and discretion government transfers.
The new district is also expected to raise around 478.1 million shillings in local and the fund will go towards funding the budget. Donors will fund 2 percent of the budget estimate, around 223 million shillings.
According to the budget, education and sport have taken a lion share of 9 billion shillings translating into 56 percent.
Administration cost comes second with 1.8 billion shillings followed by health (1.7BN), roads and engineering, production and marketing, and council, and statutory bodies in that order.
Others are Finance department (407.2M), water (305M), Community based services (256M), Natural Resource Management (204M), Planning unit (137M) and internal audit with the least budget of 94.2 million shillings.
