If I’d known Oulanyah was sick, I would have advised him to focus on health – Museveni
President Museveni bows in honor of the deceased former Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, after laying a wreath on the casket containing his remains at Kololo Independence Grounds on April 6, 2022. PHOTO/ DAVID LUBOWA
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President Museveni has regretted the demise of the former Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah saying if he had known about his ailment early enough, he would have advised him to concentrate on getting treatment.
The President made the statement while addressing mourners during the national vigil of the fallen Speaker held at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala on Wednesday. Oulanyah succumbed to cancer in Seattle, USA on March 20, 2022, according to government.
Mr Museveni explained that Oulanyah became too busy with national politics while canvassing votes to retain his Omoro County seat, and contesting for the National Vice Chairperson of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party for Northern Uganda.
The President noted that at the same time, Oulanyah had expressed interest in contesting as Speaker for the 11th Parliament, forcing him to pay less attention to his health which later deteriorated and cost him to pay the ultimate price.
“He was involved in all the politics in Omoro, CEC etc, If I had known,I would have told him to concentrate on his health. That speakership is very dangerous, sitting there the whole day. You shouldn’t accept that if you have some health issues. Health is a weapon. If you are fighters for Africa, you must pay attention to health because you must use it to fight for Africa. That is why i discourage people from taking alcohol. It is not good for your health,” he said.
Museveni lauded Oulanyah for being a loyal and disciplined cadre, and a nationalist who achieved in reuniting the people of northern Uganda and galvanized support for the NRM without tribal inclinations.
“Losing Oulanyah is a big loss. He was coming up and we were going to get a lot of benefits from him. He had already done a good job in uniting Nortern Uganda. Northern Uganda had been messed up by bad politics. I want to salute Oulanyah and commend him to you. I dont want to hear this 'Northern'. Oulanyah was not a speaker for the North but for Uganda. When you hear them say, 'Northern', tell them to shut up,” he added.
A postmortem report presented before Parliament by Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng on Tuesday during special sitting of Parliament revealed that Oulanyah died of cancer and multiple organ failure.
The national vigil was led by the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Dr. Stephen Kaziimba Mugalo, and attended by bereaved family members, the Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, legislators, Ministers and foreign dignitaries from Kenya, Tanzania, DRC and Rwanda, among others.
Oulanyah, 56, was an agricultural economist, lawyer, who served as the Speaker of the 11th Parliament of Uganda since 2021 until 2022. He becomes the first serving Speaker to die in office.
Dr. Jackson Orem, the executive director of Uganda Cancer Institute Mulago who led a team of 15 doctors who managed the deceased's condition reiterated at the vigil that Oulanyah became too busy with Parliamentary work, and skipped sequences of his recommended treatment that compromised his health.
His body was airlifted to Ayomlony village, Lalogi Town Council in Omoro District for final send-off slated for April 8. Oulanyah also served as Deputy Speaker of the Ugandan parliament, from May 2011 until May 2021. He was born in the then Gulu District to Nathan Okori and Karen Atwon.
He attended St. Joseph's College Layibi, Dr. Obote College Boroboro, and Kololo Senior Secondary School for his O-Level and A-Level education before joining Makerere University in 1988, and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts.
