MP Cecilia Ogwal dies at 77
Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal speaks on the floor of Parliament recently. PHOTO | PARLIAMENT PRESS.
What you need to know:
- Ogwal, 77, succumbed to cancer in India on Thursday. She has been MP since 1996
Dokolo Woman Member of Parliament Cecilia Ogwal is dead.
The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, announced the death of Ogwal on Thursday morning.
"It is with a heavy heart and pain that I announce the passing of our Mother, Mentor and role model Imat Cecilia Atim Ogwal, the Honourable Member representing the Women of Dokolo District. I send my sincere sympathies to her dear husband and the family, friends, the people of Lango and colleagues! May her soul find eternal rest," she posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Ogwal, 77, who has been MP since 1996, succumbed to cancer in India.
Ms Ogwal was often referred to as the country’s “iron lady” for her criticism of the regime. She was among the Constituent Assembly delegates, and from 1996, represented the people of Lira Municipality up to 2005 when she lost the seat to Mr Jimmy Akena.
This means she served two terms on a direct constituency election competed for by few women. She was a Uganda Peoples Congress party steward. The former beauty queen-turned politician joined the Forum for Democratic Change after she fell out with UPC and contested for the Dokolo District Woman seat in 2006.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa eulogised Ogwal as instrumental in guiding and shaping local leaders.
"You were instrumental in guiding and shaping local leaders, as well as advocating for a just global agenda where the voice of the global south was heard especially in the OACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. Your remarkable contributions will forever be etched in the annals of history," he tweeted.
Ogwal's fact file
Cecilia Barbara Atim Ogwal, commonly known as Cecilia Ogwal, was a politician, businesswoman and management consultant.
She has been the Dokolo Woman Member of Parliament. She has been a member of Uganda’s legislature, since 1996.
She was born in Dokolo District, Northern Uganda, on June 12, 1946. She attended local schools in Uganda. In 1967, at the age of 21, she was admitted to the University of East Africa in Nairobi, (present day University of Nairobi), to study Bachelor of Commerce.
She graduated in 1970. She also held the Certificate in Human Resources Management from the Institute of Public Administration, now known as Uganda Management Institute.
She held two other certificates; one in Christian-Based Values from the Haggai Institute, Singapore, and the other in Public Private Partnership from Australia. She was a married mother of seven children.
