Dr Ricard Nam (L), Lango Chief Mzee Odur Ebii (M) and Awitong Bosco Ogwag Edola. File photo.
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Last Updated on: 10th May 2020, 08:00 pm
For those who have critically followed up the pandemonium that engulfed the leadership of Lango Cultural Foundation for nearly a decade, then you should be familiar with the name Dr Richard Nam.
A renowned gynecologist in Lira town and a member of the Uganda Aids Commission, Dr Nam actively served as the Prime Minister under Mzee Yosam Odur Ebii, the Paramount Chief of the jilted Lango Cultural Foundation. Dr Nam was recently sacked by his boss.
“Have terminated your service as the Prime Minister of Tekwaro Lango (Lango Cultural Foundation) with immediate effect.” This was a shocking and unexpected letter that Dr Nam received from Mzee Yosam Odur, a supreme chief he diligently served.
Why was he fired?
As Dr Nam’s position limped to the cultural limbo through the brief letter that was carefully worded, TND News has since literally obtained the opinion and minds of impeccable sources whom the publication shall not name but are privy to a raft of factors that caused the prime minister to lose his prestigious position.
“I have taken this decision in good faith to enable you get ample time to sort-out your clan (Okiiamat) issues that some of your clan members have taken you to Court for in the High Court of Lira,” the letter from Mzee Ebii reads in part.
But we have since established that this was more to do with the bickering and squabbles in Dr Nam’s Okiiamat clan as cited by Mzee Yosam Odur Ebii.
Inside sources have since intimated to this contemporary online newspaper that Dr Nam was very ambitious from the very moment he convinced Mzee Yosam Odur to appoint him as Prime Minister. In fact, he saw himself walking in the footsteps of Mzee Yosam at some point in time in the near future given the fact that Mzee is aging.
He would later influence the committee that drafted the new constitution of Lango Cultural Foundation (LCF) to insert in some articles that were viewed as draconian by other clan chiefs.
This among others include the one that allows Odur Ebii powers to serve until in the unfortunate circumstance [in case he dies] and also the provision for removing the Prime Minister states that it should only be done if he has a mental derailment or abuses his office.
Dr Nam, according to our inside sources knew that with this legal backing in existence, he had successfully managed to protect his interest, position and that of Mzee Yosam permanently, only awaiting to ascend the throne of Paramount Chief in future.
He was however candid about this, and always cajoled the clan chiefs who constitutes the council of Owitong, the supreme decision making organ.
However, not all clan chiefs were happy with this. Some accused him of being selfish as he would be the only one to accompany Mzee Yosam to State House to visit the President where their mouths would be wetted. Some anti-Nam clan chiefs aligned to Won Nyaci advised him to be careful with Dr Nam. They were silently calling him “a silent and lethal threat to his throne.”
Scared as always to lose his seat to anyone, Mzee Yosam had no choice than to strike the iron while it is still hot to satisfy the greater interests of some clan chiefs who are still loyal to him but had threatened to defect to Dr Engineer Moses Odongo Okune if sacking Dr Nam would take him longer.
How money was involved
One bitter but brutal truth is that some of the Lango clan chiefs carefully used leadership problems in Lango Cultural Institution to their benefits and became the “character Sir Richard Rich” in the Book “a man of all seasons”.
As a strategist, Dr Nam saw this as a ripe opportunity and created a project that would later attract funding from the civil society organisations notably Plan Uganda
One of such projects was training of clan chiefs on how to mitigate early pregnancies and teenage marriages within their clans.
Occasionally, Owitong would be invited to posh hotels in Lira town where they are trained and made to sign fat allowances. Dr Nam knew that by wetting their pockets, he would have managed to tame their insatiable appetite for money.
Even with this training of clan chiefs, there were recorded 5000 teenage pregnancies in 2018 and Lango sub-region saw a surge in the number to a shocking 19000 teenage girls impregnated in subsequent years, a clear sign that this was just a money minting scheme with no results at all.
‘As always’, some clan chiefs who are opposed to his Won Nyaci project sneaked to Teboke and whispered to Mzee Yosam on how suspicious they were and how the funds were being spent.
“We felt that something was not right with the funds that we were told came in millions and something had to be done,” a clan chief intimated to TND News, adding that “We were also aware that some monies disbursed for a number of activities like trainings on HIV/AIDs were not being divulged to us.”
This was salt added on the wounds and thus Mzee Yosam was convinced to sack him only to replace him with Engineer James Robert Ajal.
How the sacking is too suicidal to the appointing authority
As it became clear that Dr Nam was no longer in charge of the affairs of Lango Cultural Foundation, the debate immediately shifted to the pros and cons of his dismissal and the impact it has on the already stressed group.
Not to give credit to Dr Nam would be so unfair for any analyst because as it can be recalled, Dr Nam stood by Yosam’s side through thick and storm.
Assuredly, he nearly, single headedly cushioned Mzee Yosam from the storms that kept rocking his cultural boat including the shocks that came after losing legal battle he instituted against Dr Odongo Okune and the colossal sums of money he ( Yosam ) is yet to pay as cost.
Many pundits who have talked to TND News clearly says that it was a grave mistake for Mzee Yosam to sack Dr Richard Nam who had managed to hold a grip on some of the clan chiefs.
“I now fear that some of this few clan chiefs who had remained loyal to Yosam Ebii as their Won Nyaci could now join Odongo Okune’s side out of frustration,” Michael Odongo , a teacher of Literature in English in one of the top schools in Lira tells this publication.
It is also a known fact and not a public secret that Dr Nam was Mzee’s green ticket to State House and President Museveni and all these conduit pipes could become rusty, another person says.
Dr Nam’s legal strike, who gets injured?
It is now clear that after nearly two months of patiently waiting for his reinstatement, Dr Nam is now in a move to drag to Court the old man who appointed him and decided to disappoint him.
MrNam through his Lawyer, Emmanuel Egaru in a notice dated the 1, May 2020, claims that he was dismissed from office without following all the procedures and that the ground for his dismissal itself was vague.
Speaking on Radio QFM 94.3, a TND News partner radio station, Dr Nam fired “Our constitution says i can only be sacked in the event of an abuse of office or if i have a mental problem, which is not in this case.”
He also revealed with regrets how has gave close to 130m shillings to resuscitate the dying administration of Mzee Yosam Odur.
Asked if he has the ambition of leading LCF as a Paramount Chief, Dr Nam answered in the affirmative and said he would take it up so long as he has the backing of clan chiefs.
With this looming legal battle, Mzee Yosam has only his spokesman Jacob Ocen to his defense and some, sources reveal are now suggesting that this is detrimental to his leadership.
This is a credulity test that has exposed some group of clan leaders, one clan chief says.
So, it is now clear that the battle line is drawn, and unless something happens, Dr Nam is not retreating.
“Soon Mzee Yosam will have to stand in the dock and this could be the last nail on the “casket” as more clan leaders contemplates their next moves,” the publication has been told, on anonymity.
