Jacob Oulanyah is the new Speaker of Parliament after getting the highest number of votes today.
He polled 390 votes against 197 votes for Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, the outgoing Speaker. Hon. Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda polled a distant 15 votes.
The ruling party National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s top organ, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) picked Deputy Speaker Jacob L. Oulanyah as their party’s candidate for Speaker in the 11th Parliament.
In what was a shock for many, Oulanyah was picked over Kadaga who Speaker has been for the last ten years and has been Deputy Speaker before that.
But who is Jacob Oulanyah
RT. Hon. Dr. Jacob L. Oulanyah is a Ugandan, lawyer and politician and agricultural economist, who has been the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda since 19th May 2011. Oulanyah is also a member of parliament representing the Omoro County constituency, Omoro District, Acholi sub-region, in Uganda’s northern region.
He was born in the then, Gulu district on 23rd March 1965. He attended St. Joseph’s College Layibi, Dr. Obote College Boroboro, and Kololo Senior Secondary School for his O-Level and A-Level education.
In 1988, he joined Makerere University, the oldest university in the East African Community, where he studied agricultural economics. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in that subject. That same year, he entered law school, also at Makerere University, graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Laws degree.
He served as speaker of the university students’ guild during his stay at Makerere. In 1995, he attended the Law Development Centre (LDC), where he obtained a postgraduate diploma in legal practice.
Irene Mwoyogwona: Beyond the Numbers – How Pride Bank's Award-Winning CFO Combines Profitability and Social ImpactFollowing his graduation from the LDC, Oulanyah worked as a lecturer at the center. During the same timeframe, he began private law practice at the law firm of Oulanyah, Onoria & Company Advocates.
In 2001, he joined politics by successfully contesting for the parliamentary seat of Omoro County, the then Gulu District under the the no-party system also known as the Movement Political System. He was however a cardholder of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
He also participated in the peace talks between the government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.
In 2006, standing as a UPC candidate, he lost his re-election bid. In July 2006, he quit the UPC and joined the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). In 2008 he served as the chairman of the commission of inquiry into the controversial sub-lease of Kisekka Market, one of the municipal markets in the city of Kampala.
In March 2011, Oulanyah was elected to represent Omoro County which was by then in Gulu District, in the Ninth Parliament, this time on the NRM ticket. He was elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament on 19th May 2011.
Following the February 2016 general election, Oulanyah was re-elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament on 19th May 2016. In the vote, conducted by secret ballot, he received 300 votes, while Mohammed Nsereko received 115 votes.
On 13th July 2019, Oulanyah was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity by Zoe Life Theological College USA and acquired the title, Doctor enabling him to be called Rt. Hon. Dr. Jacob L. Oulanya.
