Lower council speakers and their deputies in Gulu district have expressed concerns that they are faced with difficulties when conducting council business in English, and say that they are contemplating whether to conduct council businesses in vernacular - Acholi. 

The Deputy Speaker for Bungatira Sub County Local Council in Aswa County Mr Alfred Mwaka told Acholi Times that the majority of the councillors are finding it difficult to express themselves in English and it was making it very difficult to conduct council proceedings. 

According to Mwaka, out of the 17 councillors in the sub county, five have difficulties speaking in the official language (English) and always prefer speaking in the local language. 

Mwaka added that due to lack of knowledge of the standard rule of procedure, council meetings are not different from “a meeting of an association of alcoholics.” 

He said that he supported the idea of councils conducting meetings in Acholi because there will be understanding across the board and the public will also get the gist of the matter. 

Article 4 of the constitution permits for all relevant law books to be translated into vernacular languages, but this has never been implemented by local governments. 

Douglas Peter Okao, the Speaker for Gulu District Local Council told Acholi Times that most of the books such as the standard rules of procedure which guide the council and the local government act are both written in English and yet electoral laws do not talk about the level of education. 

Okao added that despite trainings and orientations given to lower councillors, many have a culture of poor reading which makes them ignorant about the laws and other relevant books.