TRIBUTE: Museveni Hails Late Cecelia Ogwal As True Patriot

By PATRICK JARAMOGI

KAMPALA, Uganda [SHIFTMEDIA] Fallen outspoken Dokolo Woman MP Cecelia Atim Ogwal has been hailed for standing out as a true patriot despite being in the opposition.

Chief Mourner, President Yoweri Museveni saluted the late Hon. Cecilia Ogwal for rising above the mud of partisan politics to the high plane of patriotism.

Museveni and First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports were attending the night vigil in honour of the late Ogwal at Parliament.

“When she was elected to the Pan African Parliament, you would not know that she was not NRM [a member of the National Resistance Movement Party]; she was a big defender of Uganda out there,” he said.
“Cissy Ogwal was a very good leader and her contribution was suppressed by the bad politics of hatred, bigotry; Cissy Ogwal was very firm in rejecting that politics; that politics of hatred is getting isolated,” said Museveni.

Recounting intelligence eavesdrops into the late Ogwal’s phone call with the then Lord’s Resistance Army deputy commander, Vincent Otti, Museveni said the former Uganda People’s Congress Assistant Secretary General weathered intimidation and denounced the rebellion.
“We celebrate her achievements because when you hear that the North is peaceful now, people who played a part in pacifying that area apart from the soldiers are people like Ogwal.

Ogwal succumbed to cancer in India where she had gone for treatment. President Museveni accorded her a state funeral for her role in pacifying northern Uganda, and being a champion against corruption.

Museveni noted that during her time as Parliamentary Commissioner, Ogwal emerged clean.
“She was in the Parliamentary Commission, we never heard of any dirt,” he said.

Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among thanked Museveni for according Ogwal an official burial, and announced to mourners that the President had okayed the request by MPs for a special project in the late’s honour.
“The prayers [requests] in the motion have been handled by the President,” she said.

Among said Ogwal never looked at issues through the narrow prism of political parties, but rather approached every national issue with a patriotic spirit.
“Much as she was from the Forum for Democratic Change, she was an MP for Uganda; she put the country ahead,” she said.

MPs Pay Tribute

Members of Parliament have paid glowing tribute to former Dokolo Woman District Representative, the late Hon. Cecilia Atim Ogwal, in a special sitting dedicated to remembering her contribution.

Ogwal, 77, served as Member of Parliament from 1996 until 18 January 2024 when she passed on in India followinga short hospitalization.

Ogwal was credited for championing the return to multi-party politics, at a time when women were politically marginalised. Legislators observed that Ogwal broke the barriers otherwise insurmountable to ordinary women.
“Cecilia was among the few women, about five of them, who would push for issues that women would ordinarily not handle. She led the drive to return the multi-party system, and men followed her,” said Hon. Betty Amongi, the Minister for Gender Labour and Social Development.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Rt Hon. Rebecca Kadaga recalled how Ogwal challenged President Yoweri Museveni during her press for an end to the Movement System.
“During the multi-party system debates, Ogwal campaigned and campaigned, they would argue with everyone, even the President until we all agreed that the multi-party system should come back.  She was the voice that led to that process,” Kadaga said.

The motion to honour her was moved by the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja during a special sitting on Monday, 22 January 2024 chaired by Speaker Anita Among.
The Minister for Health, Hon. Jane Ruth Aceng highlighted Ogwal’s outstanding contribution as a champion for the establishment of specialized cancer and heart institutes.

Aceng narrated how Ogwal and colleagues led to a stalemate during the Ninth Parliament when they opposed the passing of the national budget over inadequate funding to the health sector.
“She put up a strong fight for government to increase the budget for the upgrade and construction of health centre IIIs so much that there was a crisis for two weeks and Parliament could not pass the budget until government granted them their request,” Aceng said.

Aceng added that due to such efforts, at least 340 health facilities have been upgraded while 31 new facilities have been constructed.

Ogwal is also said to have influenced the ongoing process of procuring and installing a modern scanning equipment at the Uganda Cancer Institute. This is an imaging test used to determine cancer diagnosis, which would reduce the costly referral of cancer patients to specialized cancer treatment centres abroad.