Welcome to the House of Lugbara!
Lugbara Kari is the official cultural institution of the Lugbara people in Uganda and the rest of the world. It plays a crucial role in fostering change by acting as a unifying body that preserves culture, resolves conflicts and promotes development initiatives.
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Portrait by Aiko
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Arua 360 Degrees tried to find out the motives for removing the 4th Agofe (His Highness Manase Yuma Amuku) and discovered the following on Sunday 2nd November 2025:
Crazy greed and theft (corruption) in broad daylight among opponents who think Yuma is not intelligent yet he has academic degrees from UCU, Singapore, etc; they claim Ayivu have refused Opi Yuma though he was elected by over 50 clan leaders. Former Epife [Prime Minister] Ismael (who prefers Ismail) Tuku was not a chief during Agofe Elections, so he couldn't become the Paramount Chief, but keeps fighting Yuma through Angelo Pati (Maracha Chief). Politicians in Arua City especially Sam Nyakua Wadri (Mayor of Arua City who later lost to a younger Lawrence Alionzi in the 2026 Elections) and Malon Avutia (Mayor of Ayivu Division) wanted the Agofe's issues to fail because of city-border wars: Save Ayivu Initiative desires a district just as Yuma wants Ayivu to retain its ancestral land; subcounty offices left vacant. Functions of the Agofe are well spelt out in Article 6 of the 2011 Constitution, but powers reduced in the 2024 Constitution while suspiciously handing the Prime Minister more autonomy. Reasons for removal of the Agofe from office are not the ones given (Article or Section 13 of the Old Constitution that prohibits traditional leaders from engaging in partisan conflicts). Tuku doesn't want Yuma to be signatory to the Lugbara Kari financial accounts.
Elected on 13th July 2023 and declared on 26th January 2024, Yuma apparently ceased being the 4th Agofe Elect on 13th June 2025 due to resistance, but he continued attending various functions as Agofe eg World Tourism Day 2025 (hosted by Arua City in October), weddings, graduations, etc and even in 2026. Agofe Yuma also reshuffled Tuku with Elly Ejiku Emo (+256-774-490880 who was 71 years old in 2026) as Epife. When Lugbara Kari (Recognised in 2015 by GOU) is finally gazetted as a cultural institution after the wrangle between two factions (Yuma v Tuku-led Pati group) ends, it will receive 60 Million UGX per month plus two cars and escort like other kingdoms (Agofe gets 10 Million) from the Government of Uganda. Additionally, money for Lugbara Kari activities comes from various donors especially NGOs including Oxfam which I discovered while documenting Kari accounts in Twenty22. I respect Tuku for serving as the last PM and Cabinet member in Avutia's government (His legacy is intact as well as that of Speaker Christopher Yiki), but think Lugbara Kari is bigger than Tuku's opportunistic pragmatism and tactical refusal to step back after election defeat. It is sad that the Agofe culture is twisted by dirty politics, court petitions and self-centering. LK existed before Tuku and cannot collapse completely without him. I wonder what Haruna Ndema would say about this succession delay if he was still here? Why isn't Ayivu supported at the helm without legalistic friction? Tension weakens inter-clan equity in the Agofe rotation which over 2 million people identify with. Having two rival governments damages the reputation of LK. There was even an attempt to force state gazettement by removing Ayivu Clan from the tribe which is impossible; you cannot wash away your heritage using water nor money. Meanwhile, the legitimate 4th Paramount Chief Elect said: Ma nga dra ndri ru, adreni kabilo ru ku [I will die as a goat, not sheep] = I will die with a voice. May the Almighty GOD give him long life!
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Yuma by Aiko (2025), ink on paper with computer colours
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I have known Yuma as a Chief in my mother's clan since around 2003; both of my parents told me that fact when I was joining campus. He is the first person I would support as 4th Agofe while I wait for the reign of a Maracha Chief which can come after five years (Twenty28) or more (GOD-willing), instead of earlier. I'm from Ajira, formerly in Tara (Maracha) whereas my maternal grandmother is from Minyoko (Maracha) where the Clan Chief comes from, but rationally believe the current term of agofeship is meant for Ayivu. If John Godo, one of the pioneer elders who wrote the 2011 Constitution could work under Yuma, then how is his reign illegitimate? Lugbara Kari should not remain stuck in a needless power struggle like civil war characterised by greed, selfish ambition for administrative control, multi-layered contest with self-declaration involved, sabotage, sophisticated power dynamics, arguments on governance structures and unforgiveness. Why disrupt a well-documented rotational custom started by the British colonialists? From my own interpretation of the Lugbara Constitution as a 2nd Class Lugbara, the successor to the 3rd Agofe must be an Ayivu Chief who will be succeeded by a Maracha Chief, then rotation begins again from Terego as it started in 1962. Besides, the modern term limit is only five years long though can be extended for five more and so on.
Think about this contradiction: If Yuma has no executive authority yet was elected through ancestral chiefdom structures where the Constitution made the Cabinet responsible to him and the COE, then where does the opposition get the competence to depose him other than from the love of money and selfishness? Delays in state gazettement do not invalidate Agofe Yuma's 2023 election victory; he won lawfully.
JESUS said: If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand (Mark 3:25).
On Monday 28th September 2026, Arua 360 asked James Dramani (from Ojapi Clan in Maracha) two questions. He is the former Minister for Finance in Lugbara Kari who resigned during 2022 after noticing something fishy he didn't want to subscribe to:
What do you think about the Lugbara Kari wrangles? The wrangles are uncalled for. The wrangles hinder the success of the organisation. They show that people want names. They signify the lack of unity among the Lugbara. They indicate selfishness and people want personal gains.
Suggest a way forward! The original people who started the organisation and are still alive should be left to establish the institution to its legal recognition. Selection to the Cabinet should have a proper basis and not handpicking of people through friendship or clanship. Public exposure is necessary. The Cabinet should be representative of the Lugbara units which make it, ie the counties or subcounties. Personality is to be considered. People serving such an institution should not be proud. Management of the finances should be proper because this is one area where conflicts can arise. The institution - though a child of a few people - should not be taken as "our thing". Once started, it should be owned by the relevant community. Let it not look like the Ayivu thing or Terego thing, Maracha or Vurra property.
Meanwhile, Moses Maandebo (former Information Minister) from Terego said: I think the wrangles are birth pangs to deliver a beautiful Lugbara Cultural Institution and they will end soon.
The installment of Pati as 4th Agofe Designate on Monday 12th October 2026 at Coco Palm in Anyafio (Arua City) was rendered unlawful following an injunction (suspension) by Paul Matema (at the Arua Chief Magistrate's Court). PM Ejiku commented, “What the court advised is the right way. Lies have very long legs; they move very fast. These people have been lying to people, but they have now reached the end. They cannot lie anymore.”
AGOFE refers to the noble title for the King of Lado [Place where our ancestors are resting] or Paramount Chief of Lugbara Kari who must be an Elder above 55 years old. In the ancient political setup of the Lugbara, each clan had its own Chief, but then the British colonialists introduced a Chief of chiefs:
1st Paramount Chief of West Nile was appointed by the British in 1922 and was named Jalwere Jalusiga (King of Alur also labelled Ubimo or Ubimu);
2nd Paramount Chief whom Lugbara called Agofe [Pillar] was Mariko Boroa (from Terego where Agofe system was tried). He reigned from Uganda's 1962 Independence until President Milton Obote abolished kingdoms and cultural institutions during 1967;
3rd Paramount Chief was Jason Avutia (from Vurra) who was Agofe from around 1987 after the NRM came to power until his death at over 98 years old on 23rd January 2023;
4th Paramount Chief is Manase Yuma Amuku (from Ayivu) who was elected by a Council of Elders in 2023;
5th Paramount Chief will be Anzelo Pati (from Maracha)...
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