Jubilation and excitement gripped Pakwach District residents last week as they marked the swearing-in of their new Local Council V (LC V) Chairman, Robert Steen Omito.
The Chief Magistrate and Commissioner of Oaths, Jeneva Anatukunda,performed thwe ceremony at Pakwach Town Council Hall. She urged the Omito to be God-fearing and always seek God’s guidance in executing his duties, adding that he should unite and reconcile the people with the other politician,s especially after the recent elections that left many wounded.
Omito pledged service-delivery above himself, promising to use the meager resources for the people’s provisions. He noted that it was a new beginning for the new district; given the few technical staff, there will be harmonious work relations between the two.
He assured residents, particularly of Panyimur Sub-county, who showed him little support that there would be no intimidation because they refused to support Robert Okumu, who was the second runner-up. He said those who did not support him would still have benefit from Government programmes intended for the entire district.
Shortly after the swearing-in of the LCV Chairman, the District Local Council elected a new Speaker. Christine Mandha, the councilor of Panyimur Sub-county won the elections beating two male opponents. Santina Ozele, another female councilor representing Wadelai Sub-county was elected Deputy Speaker.
Omito appointed Jesta Okori as the Vice Chairperson; Ben Owiny, Secretary for Finance; Opar Anyayo, Secretary for Production; Dorothy Awori ,Secretary Social Services; and, Ronald Jawoko, as the Chairperson General Purpose Committee.
The Resident District Commissioner (RDC), James Mukose, condemned the continuous fighting between Omito’s and Okumu’s camps. He said that the time for politicking was over, and that individual fights after elections will not be tolerated, adding that it was time to fight poverty and unemployment that looms in the district.
Mukose called upon the residents to join hands with the new chairman and other district leaders to foster speedy development of the district, adding that councilors should separate their roles from their duties. He said often councilors clash amongst themselves as a result of interfering with each others roles because they fail to separate roles and duties.
He revealed that, the academic performance of students and pupils in the district was alarmingly low and that, there was need to empower them through extra-learning materials to enable them perform better. He pledged over 200,000/= every week, to purchase pull-out “Pass PLE and UCE” that are found in the Bukedde newspapers.
Mandha appreciated the move by RDC to help improve the academic performance since the district was lagging behind in education. She noted that a close supervision and monitoring will be done to in all the schools to ensure everything is in place to improve the academic standards.
