By: Alexander Kyokwijuka
He was a great package of humility, poise, humor, and greatness, all in the same person. He spoke with confidence, sounded tones of hope and had a great touch of oratory skills in him that whenever he spoke, you would feel the leader that he is.
Ladit Rt. Hon. Jacob L’okori Oulanyah is a man that will be greatly missed and I want to join the family, the people of Acholi and Uganda to send my humble sympathies in this very trying moment not only to the family but also to the country because we have lost a great man of valor. The legislature and the entire government apparatus is in great loss over the death of the man from Acholi land.
I had never met Jacob personally in my life, but for some reason I silently admired the kind of person and later leader that he was. A day after his election as Speaker, I gave him a call in my capacity as a humble citizen to send a congratulatory message upon his deserved election as the 11th Speaker of Parliament of Uganda. Aware that his phone must have been so busy at the time, given the magnitude of the calls he must have been receiving then, I had little hope that he would pick my call. Contrary to my anticipation, Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah picked my call, I introduced myself, I told him I come from a village called Kigarama, in Ndorwa East, Kabale District and I was calling to congratulate him upon his deserved election as Speaker.
He thanked me and told me he was humbled by my kind gesture. I could tell the humility and poise in his tone. I told him that I was going to make an effort to work with his office as we seek to advance good leadership to Ugandans at all fronts. He promised me he would be happy to hear more from me and would be happy to contribute to any efforts that sought to advance the interests of Uganda.
I was happy that we had got an accomplished, yet humble leader to steer the house that houses some of the most important decisions of this country. I really looked forward to great strides and hoped that we could get the best from him and the entire leadership at Parliament. I hoped that the man that speaks straight and carries with himself honesty, humility, and character was going to deliver some more sanity in that house. I hoped that Jacob would live longer to inspire some of us more for a more dignified leadership journey especially to the young people of this country. I hoped that we would get more of him for inspiration especially as some of us seek to step into serving this country in various capacities.
Unfortunately, his life on earth has been cut short and we cannot realize all these aspirations that we had in him. I personally condole with his family, especially his father because the pain of burying your own child instead of your child burying you is such an unbearable one. I also stand with the people of Acholi land and send you love and sympathies from the people of Ndorwa East and Kabale at large.
May Jacob Oulanyah’s soul rest in eternal peace. We shall continue to emulate the good examples he portrayed while he lived, especially as he served his country.
Alexander Kyokwijuka is a humble citizen from Kigarama and Ndorwa east MP Hopeful, 2026 – 2031
