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By:
Tobbias Jolly Owiny | |||||||||
| Posted:
Mar,28-2022 12:58:24
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The family of the late Jacob Oulanyah, the former Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, who died in the United States, has said his body will spend a night in his unfinished mansion in Omoro District before burial.
Oulanyah, 56, represented Omoro in the 11th Parliament and, according to the traditions of the Acholi, where he belonged, the body of a deceased should spend a night in their house before interment.
In the case of the deceased Speaker, whose body is expected back from Seattle Washington this week, there had been polarising debate on whether or not to perform certain sensitive rituals, in line with Acholi cultural norms and practices, prior to his burial.
Oulanyah had two homes, one in Muyenga, a Kampala suburb patronised by the wealthy, and another in Omoro, his ancestral land, where he was constructing a huge building.
A part of the structure is nearly complete while the other section is yet to be roofed, meaning it is at present not habitable. For this reason, some Omoro leaders in early preparatory meetings proposed that Oulanyah’s body on the night preceding burial be placed in the main house of Nathan Okori, his father. However, Mr Milton Omara, an uncle to the deceased, said they had decided that the body will be in the unfinished house during the final wake. Mr Omara, also the chief of Okarowok-oyitole clan to which Oulanyah belonged, said the decision is to honour Oulanyah who was building his house after constructing one for his father.
“His body will [lie] in his unfinished house the night before he is buried,” Mr Omara said, characterising the decision as one to have Oulanyah ‘spend a night’ in his incomplete house on the last leg of his no-return journey to the land of ancestors.
Arrangements are in place to furnish the near-complete part of the buildings for temporary occupancy so that Oulanyah, when the body arrives, does not “miss sleeping in his own house”. When asked about their preparations for the burial ceremony, he said they had left everything in the hands of Parliament.
“We have done our best to prepare the home and clear the compounds and indeed the labour is there, but Parliament has taken over everything, they are the ones in-charge of everything now, even our budget we drafted and handed over to them,” he said.
Last week, a team from the Human Resource Directorate of Parliament led by Mr Leonard Okema, the assistant director Human Resources, and Ms Jacky Lamono, an assistant director for Administration, visited Oulanyah’s home in Ayomlony Village, Jaka Parish, Lalogi Sub-county, Omoro District. They conferred with some family members and picked a copy of the family-drawn budget for integration into the one being prepared by the National Organising Committee (NOC). In a tweet last week, minister for Presidency Milly Babalanda, who chairs NOC, tweeted that they had designated Parliament to handle funeral and burial-related responsibilities at Oulanyah’s homes both in Kampala and Omoro.
Last Thursday, Members of Parliament under the Greater North Parliamentary Forum met President Museveni at State House Nakasero where he committed to mobilising funds to complete Oulanyah’s upcoming building.
Mr Amos Okot, the Acholi Parliamentary Group secretary-general, said President Museveni also committed to educate Oulanyah’s biological children and dependants. | |||||||||
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Source:
The Monitor
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