The leaders of Teso Sub Region have challenged each other to fight the poverty that is biting the region rather than engage in internal conflicts. This call was made during the Teso Leaders’ Summit 2026 held in Soroti City, aimed at forging better ways to improve the lives of impoverished communities across the region. This year’s theme focused on “United Leadership for Peace, Transforming and Sustainable Development.”
Bishop Joseph Eciru Oliach of Soroti Catholic Diocese urged the Teso community to awaken and prioritize the fight against poverty. He expressed concern that only about 29.8% of the population lives above the poverty line.
“Teso is endowed with many resources,” he said. “We are blessed and have been given talents. The question is, what have we done with the talents we have been given? Teso has fertile vast land, hardworking intelligent people, vibrant faith with fused religious leaders, a fresh political mandate, two cultural leaders, and others.”
Bishop Eciru emphasized that the leadership summit should provide answers to the region’s prevailing challenges. Hecalled on leaders to rise up and shine, urging them to use their talents, embrace unity, and adopt an inclusive approach to tackle the region’s challenges. “The question is, do you want to be castigated as that wicked servant who went and hid his talents just because he was afraid of his master?” he asked, urging the leaders to walk shoulder to shoulder, be team players, emphasizing that no one can cause transformational development in Teso alone, but through collective action, unity, peace, and accountability which are essential to achieving progress.
The summit was guided by a five-year strategic framework covering 2025 – 2029, which aims to promote peacebuilding, spearhead development, and support conflict transformation in the Teso Sub Region. Leaders called for the adoption of key priorities for the Teso Sub-region, including investment in education, agriculture, infrastructure, and health.
They also highlighted challenges such as high school dropout rates, teenage pregnancies, and the high costs of secondary, tertiary, and university fees, moral decay as seen by the “shake-shake” group (Owoki-Wok), low private sector growth, and access to capital as major constraints. Despite these challenges, the region is registering steady growth in production and emerging individual growth.
The Regional Assistant Mufti of Teso-Karamoja Sub Regions, Sheikh Obilan Abubakar Umar, challenged Teso leaders to move from endless conventions to actionable implementation. He observed that many conventions have been held in Teso with the aim of defining a strategic agenda, yet little has been done to achieve the resolutions.
He recalled the 2018 first Teso Parliamentary Group convention that brought together academicians, cultural leaders, religious leaders, political leaders, civil society, business community, and farmers to discuss the way forward for Teso.
”The late Patrick Okabe, the then Chairman of Teso Parliamentary Group, did great mobilization to bring leaders together to focus on issue-based politics,” Obilan said. “The problem, however, was that after the rhetoric of scholarly yet theoretical papers, nothing took shape.”
He proposed three concrete solutions for the post-summit period: the formation of working committees aligned with different professions (Education, Agriculture, Health, Business, Faith) to develop actionable strategies with clear timelines and budgets; empowering the stake holders with capacity and resources to implement and follow up on summit resolutions.
Vice President Jessica Rose Alupo welcomed the five priorities in support of Teso but urged leaders to condemn acts of corruption, nepotism, and the politicization of government programs, so as to enable farmers access markets and youth to get employment opportunities.
She observed that the theme is timely and asked leaders to use unity for the development of Teso. “Unity means despite disunity, we must think differently but think positively,” Alupo said.
Alupo revealed that the government has started plans to revamp Soroti Flying School to enhance commercial agriculture, trade, and transport but urged leaders to also prioritize industrialization, noting that Teso has only two industries.
She commended religious leaders for bringing political leaders together and called upon them to always heed the call from religious leaders so that people experience both spiritual and productive lives. Alupo added that the success of these programs depends on the commitment of leaders, urging them to set a timely agenda, speak with one voice, and set aside sectarian differences.
The summit was organized by Teso Religious Leaders Efforts for Peace and Reconciliation in conjunction with Destiny Community Development Initiative and other civil society organizations-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
