Family unveils seven-day plan to honour Oulanyah
An undated file photo showing then Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah chairing plenary. His family has unveiled a seven-day plan to honour him
What you need to know:
- Details of activities lined up to celebrate the life of the former speaker include the launch in Omoro this Sunday of the J. Oulanyah Memorial Cup followed with a 3pm memorial service next Monday at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala
The memorial activities will start on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, with the launch in Kampala of a legacy autocross competition by Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo and Justice Minister Norbert Mao, who were both close friends to late Jacob Oulanyah.
Combo (L-R): Former Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, Justice Minister Norbert Mao and Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo. PHOTOS/ FILE
The former speaker of the 11th Parliament died in the United States on March 20, 2022. The memorial activities will stretch over seven days within March 14-26, 2023, according to Mr Justus Tugume, the political assistant to Oulanyah’s son Andrew Ojok elected last year as his successor for the Omoro parliamentary seat. MP Ojok is the main organiser of the remembrance activities for his deceased father.
Andrew Ojok
“It is an emotional and spiritual appeal to those that he (Oulanyah) left behind and the students he was sponsoring by the time of his death,” says Tugume, adding that one of the beneficiaries named Andrew Racikara Obura scored triple A, the maximum points in A-level exams he took at Seroma High School.
Andrew Racikara Obura
Obura is one of dozens of students that Oulanyah paid tuition for. Following his death, a group of friends set up a scholarship fund to advance his education support initiative and it is chaired by Justice Owiny-Dollo, with Mr Mao and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, among others, as Board members.
Details of activities lined up to celebrate the life of the former speaker include the launch in Omoro this Sunday of the J. Oulanyah Memorial Cup followed with a 3pm memorial service next Monday at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala.
Parliament will honour him on Thursday, next week, after which Ugandan bikers – and Oulanyah was one – will take a tribute ride to Awere in Omoro District for the J. Oulanyah Legacy Autocross Competition.
Organisers said they would like to remember and honour Oulanyah, who died aged 56, as a “grandfather, father, son, brother, friend, mentor, leader, patriot, orator and an inspiration to countless people around the world”.
Oulanyah was the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party’s Vice Chairman for Northern Uganda, a post which for unexplained reasons has remained vacant since.
