Okot Ogong exits Parliament after 30 years, reflects on MP, Besigye

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The question of political transition at the parliamentary level has long been settled.

A study titled Turnover and Accountability in Africa’s Parliaments by Jeremy Bowles and Benjamin Marx shows that only 40 per cent of incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) manage to return to the House. Their November 2022 analysis examined over 6,000 parliamentary races across 12 African countries operating under identical electoral systems.

Yet while turnover has always been a structural feature of African legislatures, few anticipated the form it would take in the most recent Ugandan elections.

Rather than sweep only newcomers still finding their way around corridors, the axe fell hard on long-serving lawmakers, many of whom have come to be regarded as the crème de la crème of legislation.

Ibrahim Semujju (Kira Municipality), Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba (Nyendo–Mukungwe) and Medard Ssegona (Busiro East) were among the many legislators seeking a fourth term. Others included Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri County), Minister Amongi was seeking a sixth term, having been elected in 2001, while Okot Ogong was seeking a seventh term (1996-2026). The list is endless.

However, for today, we turn our focus to Dokolo South MP Felix Okot Ogong, who has been in Parliament since 1996 but recently lost to Uganda People's Congress flag-bearer Vincent Opito in his re-election bid. Analysts have likened Okoto Ogong to being one of the Movement politics 'High Priests' in Lango region, having offered himself for political office at a time when the spirit of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), the party of former President and son of the soil, Dr Milton Apollo Obote, was still strong among many natives.

Entrance into politics

Okot Ogong was first elected to Parliament in 1996, at a time when the country was still under the one-party Movement system.

As a young legislator, he rose quickly through the ranks and by 1998 had become vice-chairperson of the Movement Parliamentary Caucus, which in itself was no small feat given the political terrain of the time.

The caucus at the time consisted of several bush war heroes, including Col (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, Maj. (rtd) John Kazoora, who, besides holding powerful dockets, wielded immense influence. Later, some of these would sever ties with President Yoweri Museveni and establish their own parties when political space was reopened in 2005.

Right from the word go, rallying together these bigwigs was bound to be a daunting task for a newcomer barely into his thirties. Yet, surprisingly, he weathered the storm. 

Besigye dossier

Before long, Ogong found himself in the thick of events when Besigye, then a National Political Commissar and senior officer of the UPDF, launched a scathing critique of the prevailing Government on November 6, 1999.

Besigye’s missive titled: An Insider’s View of How the NRM Lost the Broad Base, reportedly sent shockwaves through the Movement establishment and would later, arguably, contribute to his retirement from the army a year later.

Speaking to New Vision Online on February 2, 2026, at Parliament, Ogong recalled the episode vividly. Saying he still has a letter with him, which he had authored inviting Besigye to come and present his perspective to the caucus, but unfortunately, the latter snubbed.

“I was the person who was handling it. I even invited him for a meeting at the Serena Hotel, which at the time was called the Nile Hotel. I even invited him for a meeting, Winnie Byanyima, his wife, came, but he decided not to appear. As we were planning how to handle his matters, he presented himself as a Presidential Candidate,” he said.

 A matter which he contends could have turned out differently, if Besigye, who since has become a jigger in the feet of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and for 25 years now, had agreed to dialogue.

“If he had agreed that these are our challenges, let's work together, that would have been better. But for him, he decided to present those challenges, the ideas; he was not ready to discuss with anybody,” Okot Ogong argued.



Other side of the coin

However, history cannot be told from a single viewpoint. Other observers at the time, such as the late Maj. (rtd) John Kazoora, offer a different perspective.

In his book Betrayed by My Leader, Kazoora recounts that when Besigye requested the caucus to discuss his paper, former Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, who was then the substantive chairperson of the NRM caucus, consulted with the Young Parliamentarians Association (YPA), which gave him the go-ahead.

Yet, before the discussion could proceed, it is alleged that he was stopped in his tracks by President Yoweri Museveni.

“On the other side, some NRM sycophants knew that Besigye’s issues were strong, genuine, long overdue and would easily generate bad publicity for the Movement. Museveni thought it perilous to extend these discussions to the caucus,” Kazoora wrote.

“He (Museveni) wrote to the caucus directing that Besigye’s paper should not be discussed and Bukenya predictably bowed to his judgement,” he alluded.

However, when Okot Ogong was put to task as to whether this was true, he denied.  

“I have the letter with me. The President had given me the power to address those challenges and bring him onboard. And we had several meetings to discuss the dossier that was released by Kiiza Besigye. No, no. Me I was there. I am the person who was handling it,” he refuted.

Removing term limits

Fast forward to 2001, Ogong was appointed Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and also took on the responsibility of heading Children and Youth Affairs in Cabinet. Later, in 2004, the NRM caucus, which sat at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi, decided to open political space to allow those who were dissatisfied to leave.

Although the majority of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and delegates from all district chairpersons supported this move, they still wanted President Museveni to remain their leader, a stance that informed the removal of term limits.



“At that time, remember I was part of the 30-member team, we worked together to ensure that we handled affairs of the country. We had our presentation to the President on how to strengthen and bring stability. And our interest was that the Movement System should go on. But in the wisdom of the President about those two factors, the Oba Bagenda bagende (if they want to leave, let them leave) and the interests of multi-party in the western world, we had to tow that line,” Ogong recalled.

The Chiluba case study

Another factor, he believes, that may have influenced the constitutional amendment was the fear of the predicament former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba faced after leaving office in 2002. After serving 10 years, Chiluba was heavily prosecuted by his successor, Levy Mwanawasa, over allegations that he had embezzled $40 million (equivalent to sh143 billion) in state funds.

“We were saying, we are not sure of the waters ahead. Also, we were drawing on experiences from Zambia. Remember, Chiluba’s experience was around that time. When Chiluba finished his two terms, and the next Government came in, it started following him,” he said.

Adding that the constitutional threshold reduced former Presidents to lame duck leaders who could only spectate.

While political observers have previously suggested that the decision to lift term limits in 2005 marked the beginning of bribery of MPs, Okot Ogong said the unnamed sum, which some have put in the region of shillings five million per MP at the time, was merely facilitation and not fundamentally distinct from lobbying that occurs in developed countries.

“You know, I was in the system, I was the one doing some of these things. It was not about buying or bribing. It was facilitating the process. You know, the balance of the equation. There’s a way you balance so that people move in one direction,” he said.

Best Parliament

That said, in retrospect, Okot Ogong ranks the Sixth Parliament, chaired by James Wapakhabulo (1996-1998), Francis Ayume (1998-2001) and its immediate successor, which was chaired by Edward Ssekandi, as the best.

“Because, in the Movement system, people were free, and there was free discussion in the Movement. People would disagree. The President was younger; he had more time for MPs. It was really good, and he would accept whatever decision members took,” he alluded.



“About the Speakers, I think not now. Because I need to sit down and analyse,” Okot Ogong contended.  

Future plans

While he says he has outgrown the MP tag, he does not rule out a political comeback in the future.

“For Parliament, I have been here for 30 years. I think for now, we will cross the bridge as we reach there. But for now, I think you can’t be serving in the same place,” he said.

“So, I think the next remaining part, I will serve in the Government, in the party. Even giving free service, can’t I be a member of a school board? Can’t I be a member of the Church? I can be the chairman of the laity of my area. So, I can always be a leader, even now I am a clan leader,” Okot Ogong added.  

For now, he plans to return to private business and as an elder, continue playing a key role in governance whenever an opportunity presents itself.

“How do we support our civil servants? I will be talking about that. Why should civil servants go to these banks or to money lenders who are cheating them, 20 percent a month? Why can’t the government put up a system of lending, a credit bureau for civil servants? So that they can borrow to send their children to school?” Okot Ogong said.

Another priority, he says, will shape his agenda going forward is advocacy for the waiver of harsh taxes on vehicles, which, in his view, would stimulate the economy by boosting the sale of petrol, spare parts and the movement of people and goods.

“Velocity of movement of persons empowers and promotes the economy,” he summed.