I Wouldn’t Have Supported Jacob Oulanyah As Speaker If I Knew He Was Sick- Museveni
By Uganda Online Media
Kampala: While addressing a congregation at Kololo ceremonial grounds to pay special tribute, President Yoweri Museveni revealed that if he knew the late Speaker of the 11th Parliament Jacob Oulanyah was sick, he would not have supported him for the speakership race.
“He was involved in all the politics in Omoro, CEC, etc, If I had known, I would have told him to concentrate on his health. That speakership is very dangerous, sitting there the whole day. You shouldn’t accept that if you have some health issues,” he said adding;
Museveni thus described Oulanyah as a loyal, disciplined cadre and a nationalist who played a fundamental role in uniting the people of northern Uganda and tirelessly mobilizing support for the ruling NRM government.
“Oulanyah was young but had already made an impact. As NRM, we started dealing with him when he was the chairperson of the Parliamentary legal committee although he was still in UPC, but we noticed him and saw that he had potential,” Museveni said
Museveni’s comments follow a medical report that revealed that Oulanyah’s health condition deteriorated further when he went into politics ahead of the 2021 general polls when he contested as MP for Omoro and later as NRM Vice President in charge of the Northern region and later as Speaker of Parliament.
According to Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng, Oulanyah became too busy and had no time to seek proper treatment as advised by the health experts regarding his condition.
According to Museveni, he found out about Oulanyah’s health condition when he was flown to Dubai.
However, after Oulanyah’s Dubai admission, Oulanyah returned and never took long when he was admitted to Mulago and later flown to the USA where he died on 20/3/2022.
Museveni advised politicians to care about their health arguing that health is wealth. The President further pledged that government will contribute to Jacob Oulanyah’s education fund to support in educating of children who have been under Oulanyah’s care.
