Omoro County Member of Parliament Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah has been voted as the Speaker of the 11th Parliament.
Oulanyah who has been serving as the Deputy speaker for the past 10 years has beaten competition from his former boss Rebecca Kadaga and former opposition Chief Whip Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda.
The election held at the Kololo Independence grounds on Monday saw Oulanyah come on top with 310 votes.
Kadaga came second with 197 Votes while FDC’s Ibrahim Semujju Nganda and in a distant third with 15 Votes.
Oulanyah becomes the 10th individual to head Uganda’s legislative arm of government since the country gained her independence in 1962.
Ugandan Speakers of Parliament since 1962
John Bowes Griffin
Griffin was a British lawyer and judge who served as a government lawyer and judge in a number of British colonies.
In Uganda, he served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda and speaker of the Ugandan Parliament from 1962 to 1963.
Narendra M. Patel
Narendra M. Patel was the first non-British speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, then called the National Assembly.
Narendra, became speaker in 1963, having been voted to the National Assembly as a representative for the then Mbale Constituency.
He served as Speaker of parliament for two terms from 1963 to 1966 and between 1966 to 1971 when dictator Idd Amin Dada took over government and abolished parliament.
For all of Amin’s rule, the country had no legislative arm.
Edward Rugumayo
After the overthrow of dictator Amin, a National Consultative Council was formed and this acted as the parliament at the time.
Edward Rugumayo chaired the National Consultative council from 1979 to 1980 when the National Assembly was reinstated.
Rugumayo, a botanist is currently serving as the chancellor of two Ugandan universities.
Francis Butagira
Butagira served as the speaker of Uganda’s parliament between 1980 to 1985 when Obote’s government was overthrown.
He is serving as the chairman of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), an agency responsible for maintaining registration data.
He is a member of the Uganda Bar and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Uganda and all subordinate Courts.
Yoweri Museveni + Moses Kigongo
After the National Resistance Army took power following a military coup in 1986, President Yoweri Museveni became the National Resistance Council, deputized by Al Hajji Moses Kigongo who chaired most of the Council’s meetings.
The National Resistance Council was the legislative arm for 10 years between 1986 and 1996.
James Wapakhabulo
After the reinstatement of Parliament, James Wapakhabulo became the head of Uganda’s 6th Parliament and the first parliament since the 1986 military coup.
Wapakhabulo served for only two years – between 1996-1998 and was replaced by Francis Ayume who had been elected to parliament in 1998.
Francis Ayume
Ayume, the then Member of parliament for Koboko District was the speaker of the Parliament of Uganda from 1998 to 2001.
In 2001, he was appointed Attorney General and represented Uganda in the International Court of Justice in a case where Uganda was accused of invading DR Congo and allegedly plundering its natural resources.
In 2004, he was involved in a fatal automobile accident at Nakasongola on the Kampala-Gulu Highway.
Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi
Ssekandi, now Vice President served as the Speaker of Parliament for 10 years from 2001 to 2011.
He replaced Francis Ayume who had been appointed as the Attorney General.
Ssekandi has been a representative of Bukoto Country Central from 1996 to 2021 when he lost the election.
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga
Kadaga took over from Edward Ssekandi in 2011.
She had previously served as Deputy Speaker for 10 years.
Kadaga who is also the Luuka District Woman MP will be handing over to Oulanyah.
