President Yoweri Museveni has explained why he delayed announcing the death of the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah, saying he wanted the family to get the news first.

“I delayed the announcement so that his children would be informed first," Museveni said.

Oulanyah who was also a Member of Parliament representing the Omoro County constituency, Omoro district, Acholi sub-region passed on Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Seattle in the United States where he was receiving treatment after being flown out of the country in January this year.

President Yoweri Museveni announced  Oulanyah’s death. “Countrymen and Countrywomen. It is with a lot of sadness that I announce the death of Rt. Hon Jacob Oulanyah the Speaker of Parliament. 

"I got information of this sad news at 10:30 am, East African time from people that have been with him and the doctor that was caring for him in the intensive care unit,” Museveni tweeted at 1:07 pm.

Sources who spoke to the New Vision confirmed Oulanyah passed on Sunday morning. The Deputy Speaker Anita Among, Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo, Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng and Democratic Party President Norbert Mao were in Seattle in the United States where the Speaker of Parliament was receiving treatment at the time of his death.

Among, Dollo and Mao flew to the US on Friday last week. In a tweet on Friday, Among urged the country to keep Oulanyah in prayers. “He is receiving and responding to treatment under the close attention of his doctors. Let us keep him in prayers for speedy and complete recovery. I urge the public to respect his privacy and that of his family,” Among tweeted.

By Press time details of what caused Oulanyah’s death still remained scanty.

The 56-year-old Oulanyah was elected as the Speaker of Parliament on May 24, 2021, after defeating the former Speaker Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga.

He had served as Deputy Speaker of the Ugandan parliament, from May 2011 until May 2021.

Oulanyah 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, where he studied agricultural economics. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in that subject. That same year, he joined 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.

In 2001, he joined elective politics and was elected Omoro County Member of Parliament, then under Gulu district.

Oulanyah was a member of the Uganda People’s Congress and participated in the peace talks between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels in the early 2000s together with Mao.

In 2006, Oulanya who was then a Uganda People’s Congress candidate lost his re-election bid and later  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. In March 2011, Oulanyah was elected to represent Omoro County then in Gulu district, in the 9th Parliament, this time on the NRM ticket. He was elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament on 19 May 2011.

Following the February 2016 general elections, Oulanyah was re-elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament on 19 May 2016. In the vote, conducted by secret ballot, he received 300 votes, while Muhammad Nsereko received 115. On 13 July 2019, Oulanyah was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity by Zoe Life Theological College USA and acquired the title, Doctor enabling him be called Rt. Hon. Dr. Jacob L. Oulanyah