Amb Otengo hails fallen Lango Paramount Chief as strategic thinker and peace builder
Odur`s casket being delivered at Mayor`s Garden in Lira City for a council session on Thursday
By Patrick Okino
Uganda’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Rebecca Amuge Otengo, has described the fallen Lango Paramount Chief, Won Nyaci Yosam Odur Ebii, as a strategic thinker with a clear vision and a strong commitment to peace-building for the people of Lango.
Addressing mourners during a joint council session convened by districts in the sub-region to pay tribute to the 99-year-old cultural leader, Otengo revealed that because of his admirable character, he was greatly respected and loved by President Yoweri Museveni.
She said she worked closely with him when he served as the vice chairperson of Lira District and during her time as Woman Member of Parliament and Minister of State for Northern Uganda, and she found him to be a uniquely exceptional leader.
“I remember very well when I was a minister—we would often have tough crisis meetings before the President, but the Chief would always be the last to stand and calm the situation.He was a strategic thinker with a rare character that many people do not understand,” she said on Thursday at Mayor’s Garden in Lira City.
Lango district leaders, under their umbrella body Lango LC5 Chairpersons and Mayors’ Association, held a joint council session to eulogize Won Nyaci Odur, who passed away on November 10, 2025, at Lira University Teaching Hospital.
Due to his advanced age, Odur had been admitted with malaria, pneumonia, and a severe cough, but his condition later deteriorated, leading to his death, according to Prince Anthony Olobo.
Otengo called upon the people of Lango to emulate Odur’s legacy by embracing unity, peace, and love for one another so they can earn respect as a community.
She noted that with decades of leadership experience at local, national, and international levels, Odur demonstrated that people judge you by how you conduct and present yourself.
Alebtong LC5 chairperson, who also serves as the chairperson of all LC5 chairpersons and Mayors in the Lango sub-region, described Odur as a patriot, a unifier, and a cultural torchbearer.
He said Odur’s footsteps are permanently imprinted in the soil of Lango’s history, and his leadership shaped the destiny of the cultural institution for two decades.
“As we celebrate the life of Mzee Yosam Odur Ebii, who served Lango in times of both peace and conflict, we remember a leader who held the mantle with uncommon humility, resilience, and devotion to Lango unity,” he said during the joint meeting chaired by Kenneth Owaa, Speaker of Alebtong.
He proposed that statues of Amuka be erected at all entry points into Lango, that succession be determined according to cultural customs, and that a new Lango cultural constitution be developed. “This will help us define roles, succession procedures, and safeguard the institution from interference,” he noted.
He further suggested the need to promote healing and reconciliation through dialogue, traditional cleansing, and inclusive engagement of all clans.
He emphasized that these processes should take place after the burial, warning that failure to do so would expose the community to continued confusion for years to come.
Franco Ojur, former LC5 chairperson of Lira and now a Presidential Advisor, said Odur is the first Won Nyaci to be accorded an official burial among the three chiefs and is regarded as the founder of the Lango Cultural Institution.
He also praised the late chief for mobilizing the Amuka militia, who played a significant role in the fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony.
He said he was officially enthroned by the government, which made him the first Won Nyaci to be formally recognized, and nobody can challenge that. Odur was elected and enthroned in 2005 by the former Vice President Gilbert Bukenya.
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