There is a somber mood in Lango following the news of Cecilia Atim Ogwal’s death. First announced by Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among, the speaker of Parliament, the news about Ogwal’s death spread through social media like wild fire sending Lango into a frenzy. Atim Ogwal succumbed to cancer from a Hospital in India at 77 years.
Atim Ogwal was the Dokolo District Woman Member of parliament although she has continuously been a member of Uganda’s legislature since 1996. Hon. Joy Atim Ongom, who served with Ogwal in the 9th and 10th Parliament described her as an encyclopedia from which most politicians learnt politics. Adding that she commanded respect for her knowledge.
At a personal level, Ongom applauds Atim Ogwal for shaping the family life of young politicians with whom she interacted. Hon. Daniel Omara Atubo, former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development described Atim Ogwal as firm foundation of the multi-party democracy in Uganda, something which Uganda will not achieve based on personality domination.
Chris Otim, a resident of Lira City compared Atim’s death to the death of President Apolo Milton Obote in 2006 and Gen. David Oyite Ojok in 1983, deaths which he said has changed Lango forever.
