Parliament has blasted Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), for issuing what the opposition party described as the ‘tentative burial programme’ for departed lawmaker, Cecilia Ogwal.
“The burial of the late Hon. Cecilia Ogwal is the responsibility of Parliament not the FDC,” said Parliament in a post on X.
“Please disregard the purported burial programme released by the FDC on its social media platforms.”
Ogwal, 77, succumbed to cancer at a hospital in India on Thursday morning.
The programme issued by FDC didn’t indicate dates of several activities such as the arrival of the body and funeral arrangements.
It showed that Ogwal’s body would arrive at Entebbe International Airport and depart to Mulago Hospital and thereafter A plus Funeral home.
Ogwal’s body would then be taken to All Saints Cathedral for a funeral service and thereafter to her home in Bugolobi for a vigil before Parliament’s Special Sitting to pay tribute to the deceased.
Parliament said Speaker Anita Among together with the family, will release the funeral arrangements.
Family members said Ogwal will be laid to rest at Alito in Kole district.
Born 12 June 1946, Ogwal, who was a defence contractor and management consultant, has been a member of Uganda’s legislature continuously since 1996.
During the 2006 parliamentary elections, Ogwal lost her Lira Municipality seat to Jimmy Akena, the son of UPC founder Milton Obote.
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 member of the Forum for Democratic Change party.
Ogwal has been serving as a member of the 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.
In 1969, at the age of 23, she won the “Miss Uganda” contest.
