Cecilia Barbara Atim Ogwal (6 December 1946 – 18 January 2024) was a Ugandan politician, businesswoman and

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

. She was also a Member of Parliament for Dokolo District Women's Constituency and a member of Uganda's legislature continuously from 1996 until her death.

Background and education

Cecilia Atim Ogwal was born in

Dokolo District Dokolo District is a district in the Northern Region of Uganda. The town of Dokolo is its main municipal, administrative, and commercial centre. Location Dokolo District is bordered by Lira District to the northwest, Alebtong District to the no ...

, British

Protectorate of Uganda The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Br ...

, on 6 December 1946. She attended local schools in Uganda. In 1967, at the age of 21, she was admitted to the

University of East Africa The University of East Africa was established on 29 June 1963"Universities: East Africa", ''A Historical Companion To Postcolonial Thought In English'' (Columbia University Press, 2005) Prem Poddar and David Johnson, eds., p. 489. and served K ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

(now known as the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

) to study for a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree. She graduated from Nairobi University in 1970. She also held a Certificate in Human Resources Management from what was then called the Institute of Public Administration, but is now known as

Uganda Management Institute Uganda Management Institute (UMI) is a government-owned national center for training, research, and consultancy in the field of management and administration in Uganda. It is one of the nine public universities and degree-awarding institutions in ...

. She held two other certificates; one in Christian-Based Values from the Haggai Institute, Singapore, and the other in Public-Private Partnership, from Australia.

Career

From 1979 until 1980, Ogwal worked at the Uganda Embassy in Kenya, as the Liaison Officer for Returning Ugandan Refugees. From 1980 until 1981, she worked as the Operations Manager at the Uganda Advisory Board of Trade. In 1982, she was one of the founders of

Housing Finance Bank Housing Finance Bank (HFB) is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by Bank of Uganda, the national banking regulator. Overview HFB is a full service retail bank that is primarily involved in mortgage banking. F ...

, working there until 1984. She served as the

Chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of Uganda Development Bank, from 1981 until 1986. Ogwal became involved in Ugandan politics, serving as the Acting Secretary General of

Uganda People's Congress The Uganda People's Congress (UPC; ) is a political party in Uganda. UPC was founded in 1960 by Milton Obote, who led the country to independence alongside UPC member of parliament A.G. Mehta. Obote later served two presidential terms un ...

(UPC) from 1985 to 1992. In 1994, she was part of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

which drafted and promulgated the 1995 Ugandan Constitution. She remained a high-ranking official in the UPC political party until 2004. During the 2006 parliamentary elections, she lost her Lira Municipality seat to Jimmy Akena, the son of UPC founder

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan politician who served as the second prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and the second president of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and later from 1980 to 1985. A Lango, ...

. In 2011, Ogwal contested and won the Women's Representative seat for the newly created Dokolo District. This time she switched political parties and ran as a full member of the

Forum for Democratic Change The Forum for Democratic Change (; FDC), founded on 16 December 2004, is one of the main opposition parties in Uganda. The FDC was founded as an umbrella body called Reform Agenda, mostly for disenchanted former members and followers of Preside ...

party.

Parliamentary duties

Ogwal was a member of parliamentary Committee of Physical Infrastructure in charge of overseeing and covering policy matters related to Lands, Housing, Urban development, Works and Transport, and Physical Planning. She was also a member of the budget committee.

Personal life and death

In 1969, at the age of 23, she won the "Miss Uganda" contest. Ogwal was a married mother of seven natural children and several adopted ones. She died of cancer in India on 18 January 2024, at the age of 77.

References

External links