Parliament honours ex-MP and veteran journalist Onapito

__________

KAMPALA - Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has paid tribute to former Amuria MP Francis Ekomoloit, 58, who passed away last Friday.

He echoed this while opening plenary on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.  

A familiar face on popular talk shows, including NBS' Media Roundtable, Ekomoloit died at Kampala Hospital.

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, Tuesday, paid tribute to former Amuria MP Onapito Ekomoloit, who passed away last Friday. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

He truly embodied the phrase "jack of all trades," having served as a journalist with Monitor and Crusader, press secretary to President Yoweri Museveni and chairman of Soroti Fruit Factory after retiring from Nile Breweries as the board of directors.

“He was a distinguished legislator and leader both in the public and private sectors. He is a former Presidential Press Secretary (PPS). You have heard that the President has offered an official burial for him, we shall be waiting for further details and also further details to do with burial arrangements. It is really very sad,” Tayebwa pointed out.

The Prime Minister of Uganda Robinah Nabbanja remarks during plenary. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

“I request you that we stand up and observe a minute of silence in his honour,” he ordered.

Life after politics

Ekomoloit, served as Amuria MP between September 1998 and 2001. He replaced Gen. Jeje Odongo who had relinquished the seat upon being appointed Army commander. 

Amiable and laid-back, he served as the voice of reason in Uganda's heated political landscape.

On May 3, this year at a symposium where former MPs under the Parliamentary Alumni of Uganda (PAU) were advocating for pensions, Ekomoloit urged them to consider applying their skills in other areas.

At the time, many of his colleagues who have since fallen on hard times, were advocating to be paid thirty per cent of the salary of the sitting MPs (sh3.51 million) and medical insurance among others.

MP Medard Lubega Sseggona during plenary. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

However, Ekomoloit persuaded his colleagues to broaden their horizons.

“Prove that there is life after politics. This is actually a curse in Africa. There is a succession of succession planning and retirement in this country. Both within and outside, politics. People cannot leave office…I have been asked a million terms that are you running again. I have a beautiful country home, I said no, there is life after politics,” Ekomoloit advised.

He said this was the best course of action, though power is sweet (entebbe ewoma), as the Baganda say. 

“I tasted this thing, it is sweet. I loved the title of honourable…” he alluded.

“Those who have read my book; Tears and Trials. I talk about losing the seat, literally crying all day, fleeing the constituency I had lost in the middle of the night. This is traumatic and if you are not careful, you can die and we have lost colleagues. You can go into depression and die,” Ekomoloit disclosed further.

reckless driving. The Minister of State for Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama remarks. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

He was backed by Prof. Gerald Karyeija (PhD), who attributed the former MP's current woes to lack of professional and life skills.  

“One of the American Presidents after his tour of duty, went back and noticed that his chocolate firm was collapsing. Another one could not know how to place a telephone call because he had not done it in a long while. Simple ordinary things, like driving,” Karyeija alluded then.

Additionally, studies have shown that a significant number of former lawmakers in Europe are prone to agoraphobia. Simply put, agoraphobia connotes having an extreme fear of entering crowded areas.

Aringa County MP Alioni Yorke Odria during plenary on Tuesday. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

“There was a Polish President when he retired, he went to ask for a job as an electrician in a shipyard. But also, we have had John Winters, and George Bush who have joined big companies as advisors. For Burundi, constitutionally every former President is now a member of the senate. Somebody was talking about a bicameral parliament but maybe it might be a very bad idea if that happened,” Karyeija said in May last year.