Kampala-A section of legislators from Karamoja have urged the appointing authority to reserve the position of commissioner at Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) for a person from the sub-region.
Leading this call was State Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Esther Anyakun as parliament on Thursday paid tribute to the late Fr. Simon Lokodo the former Minister of Ethics and Integrity who at the time of his death was a member of the UHRC.
In her tribute, Anyakun said that when Lokodo bacame minister, he dedicated his life towards imparting good morals and strong cultural values to Ugandans and so there is need to reward him by ring fencing the position for his people.
“I saw in the social media there were a lot of ring fencing going on. We as a region we are also asking this government to give us back that position. Let it remain in Karamoja, we have educated people who can take up that position.” Said minister Anyakun
She was backed by Dodoth North MP Joseph Komol who also requested that government takes over the children who were being looked after by Lokodo and establishes a seed secondary school at Sangari sub county as a gesture of willingness to continue Lokodo’s legacy.
However, Anyakun’s request was met with booing from fellow legislators, prompting Deputy Speaker Anita Among to come to her defence pointing out that when former Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile passed on, people from Kigezi requested that the position be reserved for someone from their region and that MPs from Karamoja are entitled to their opinion.
Meanwhile, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Moses Ali who moved a motion to honour the late Lokodo praised him for serving Uganda with dedication and patriotism.
“He was a strong advocate of family values and morals through the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity as well as contributed to development of the Catholic Church in Karamoja sub-region
MP Pius Wakabi of Bugahya
Constituency praised Lokodo for fighting corruption.
“Lokodo made us feel that corruption was indeed ungodly and very bad. But unfortunately, corruption in Uganda according to reports is either constant or increasing. So the best gift to give to him is for all of us to unite against corruption.” Said Wakabi
The Deputy Speaker Anita Among said that Fr. Lokodo will be remembered for his zeal for a morally upright society.
“Father Lokodo would not want to see any body in a miniskirt. Even in parliament no body would put on a miniskirt. He also hated homosexuality and used to campaign against. He hated FGM and also hated forced early marriages.” Said Among
Father Lokodo passed on at Switzerland where he had gone to defend Uganda’s human rights record at the United nations Human Rights Council.
Chris Baryomunsi, Minister of Information, Communications Technology and National Guidance revealed that Government spent Shs400M on clearing hospital bills, transporting the body as well as footing burial expenses for Lokodo.
