By Frank Kamuntu
The hand of death has today claimed the life of Hon. Cecilia Barbara Atim Ogwal, Dokolo District Woman Member of Parliament.
Hon. Cecilia Ogwal, 77, breathed her last on Thursday morning in India after a short illness.
Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among this morning rushed to the deceased’s residence in Bugolobi where she passed her condolences to Mzee Lameck Ogwal, the husband of the late Ogwal.
“It is a pity that she has passed on. We condole with the family, people of Lango and Uganda. Some of us the young ladies joined Parliament because we used to admire Hon. Cecilia Ogwal; the way she was articulate and the way she would discuss issues concerning this country. We have lost a role model,” Among said.
She was accompanied by the Parliamentary Commissioner, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, and other Members of Parliament.
The Secretary General of Lango Parliamentary Group, Hon. Samuel Opio Acuti (Indep, Kole North County), also a family member, eulogised the late Ogwal, as the “barometer and compass of Lango.”
“When I was going to stand for Kole North Constituency, it was in this sitting room that she gave me the blessings. I last talked to her about two weeks ago. We have lost an iron lady, a vocal and strong-hearted woman,” he said.
Bugweri County Member of Parliament, Hon. Abdu Katuntu also acknowledged that it is in Ogwal’s sitting room in Bugolobi that his political journey started 30 years ago.
” I wouldn’t be a politician but this sitting room changed me from being a lawyer to a politician… Hon. Cecilia was a great woman who would assert her authority,” Katuntu said.
Parliamentary Commissioner, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga remembers Ogwal as a rare breed of politician.
“Cecilia was a household name. Every time she picked a microphone, she was speaking country and people. A rare breed of politician because you would not be ashamed of what she would speak,” he said.
Ogwal was one of the longest-serving legislators, having served since 1996. At the time of her death, she was a member of the Committees on Physical Infrastructure and Budget.
She also served as Uganda’s representative to the Pan African Parliament (PAP) and as Parliamentary Commissioner.
Details of the funeral arrangements have not yet been revealed.
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