Tension has erupted in the Okol community after a faction of clan members openly rejected the planned coronation of the newly selected traditional ruler, Jude Ogik, just three days after the Prime Minister of the Acholi Paramount Chief announced an official go-ahead for the ceremony.

The Prime Minister, Rwot Otinga Atuka Otto Yai, had earlier declared that the coronation could proceed because the contesting chief, Jimmy Larem Nono, failed to appear for a scheduled meeting. 

Otinga adds that Ogik’s clan was free to move ahead with preparations and even offered to help him acquire the necessary regalia if he sought support.

This approval was expected to end weeks of consultations and pave the way for a peaceful handover.

However, by Saturday the situation had shifted dramatically.

Influential clan elders, youth leaders, and representatives of women’s groups convened an emergency meeting in Mucwini East Sub-County, where they unanimously rejected the planned coronation.

Felix Nyero Lawii, the LCIII chairperson of Madi Opei Sub-County, says Acholi Paramount Chief Rwot David Onen Acana should have halted the coronation after receiving a letter of complaint from the current Okol chief, Joseph Larem Nono, from the Ikorom clan.

Thomas Okettayot, a clan member, alleges that the coronation was a scheme to grab many acres of land belonging to the Okol clan, claiming that those rushing the coronation are being used as middlemen to abet the land grab.

According to the elders, the Okol chiefdom consists of 18 clans, making the exclusive registration of clan land under a few individuals “highly suspicious.”

Richard Okwera Ojara, the Mayor of Kitgum Municipality and also a clan member, questions the urgency of installing of a chief now, noting that the clan had lived for nearly two centuries without one

He notes that Ogik hails from only one of the 18 clans and, therefore, cannot represent the entire chiefdom.

Ojara also questions whether the current chief, Joseph Larem Nono, had ever been anointed.

Bernard Oryema Ojuk faulted Rwot Acana for handling the matter through letters instead of coming to Kitgum to address concerns in person.

He also criticizes the Prime Minister for acting unilaterally without the consent of the broader Okol clans.

After hours of deliberation, the meeting resolved that a letter be written to the Acholi Cultural Institution, informing the paramount chief that the Prime Minister acted with partiality and urging him to intervene directly in the matter.