Lango people (South Sudan)

The Lango comprises six dialect speaking groups, including the Ketebo people, Lokwa/logire people, Logir people, Dongotono people, Imotong people and Lorwama people. Lorwama originated from the Okol hills and Lolim mountain regions of northern Uganda, or from the Acholi people of Uganda and South Sudan.

The Lorwama tribe's language (Okolye or okolie) is spoken mainly by Lorwama natives, though it was adopted by the Ketebo people in the 1940s when their language vanished. The Ketebo people are now integrated into the Lorwama community, though they speak a slight variant of okolie. The Dongotono Lango dialect speaking group also speak Okolie, importing some words from the otuho language of the Lotuko people. It is good to note that the Name Lorwama came as a result of treaty done probably in 1920s between the today called people Ketebo which means people who can eat meat with hard mixed porridge called Taffa. The original name for the tribe is OKOL people. So in many case as the people are getting into self evolutions, it always became an issue to deal with when it comes to who is a Lango? Is the name lango referring to the Lorwama, Lango or it is a name that unite the SIX groups? Instead of following the politicized individuals who think by dividing these six united people can give them more room for power, I suggest that any reader here should go back and know when in history were these people called Lango and who named them? Uganda is just another short place to trace from, but Kenya is the origin as many elderly people can witness.

The name "Lango" can also be spelled as Langgo or Langoni when referring to a male, or as Langoni for a female.

• Gurtong Peace Project - South Sudanese Communities