The President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, confirmed the death of the incumbent Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament on 20th March 2022.
Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah has ben a Ugandan agricultural economist, lawyer, and politician who served as Speaker of Uganda’s 11th Parliament (2021-2022), passed away in Seattle on March 20, 2022.
After beating former Speaker Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, he was elected to the position of Speaker on May 24, 2021.
From May 2011 to May 2021, he was the Deputy Speaker of Uganda’s parliament. Oulanyah was also a member of parliament in Uganda’s Northern Region, representing the Omoro County constituency, Omoro District, Acholi sub-region.
He was born on March 23, 1965, in the then-Gulu District, to Nathan L’okori and Karen Atwon. For his O-Level and A-Level studies, he attended St. Joseph’s College Layibi, Dr. Obote College Boroboro, and Kololo Senior Secondary School.
He enrolled at Makerere University in 1988 to study agricultural economics. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in that subject in 1991. In the same year, he began studies at law school at Makerere University, where he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1994.
During his time in Makerere, he was the speaker of the university students’ guild. He earned a postgraduate diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre (LDC) in 1995.
Oulanyah served as a lecturer at the centre after graduating from the LDC. He started his private law practice at Oulanyah, Onoria & Company Advocates around the same period.
In 2001, he entered politics by winning the no-party system, commonly known as the Movement Political System, election for the parliamentary seat of Omoro County in the then-Gulu District.
He was, however, a Uganda People’s Congress cardholder (UPC). He also took part in the Ugandan government’s peace discussions with the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgents.
He was defeated in his campaign for re-election in 2006 as a UPC candidate. He left the UPC in July 2006 and joined the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
He was the chairman of the commission of investigation investigating the contentious sub-lease of Kisekka Market, one of Kampala’s municipal markets, in 2008.
Oulanyah was elected to represent Omoro County in the Ninth Parliament, then in Gulu District, on the NRM platform, in March 2011.
On May 19, 2011, he was elected as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
In a race against his old boss, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, and Kira Municipality MP, Ibrahim Ssemujju, Jacob Oulanyah was elected Speaker of Parliament on May 24, 2021. Jacob received 310 votes, compared to 197 for Kadaga and 15 for Ssemujju.
May his soul Rest in Peace!
