Lydia Wanyoto
Unfinished multi-storey house of late Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah
What began as a routine condolence message in Uganda’s Parliament on Tuesday turned into a pointed demand for accountability when Speaker Jacob Oboth-Oboth raised the unfinished multi-storey house of his predecessor, the late Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah, who died in March 2022.
Oboth-Oboth told the House that a recent visit to the structure in Omoro District, northern Uganda, had left him “a bit disturbing.” He urged the government to clarify its long-standing commitment to complete the residence.
“Which means you can sit in this chair, you are only relevant when you are alive,” the Speaker said. “The late Oulanyah had started the House, and he died before completing. We instead completed the term of his office, but forgot about completing the House.”
Minister of State for Public Service Lydia Wanyoto, who is also Mbale City Woman MP, undertook to present “a comprehensive commitment on the progress” within two weeks. The deadline falls around 17 November 2026.
She said her ministry, working with the Speaker’s office, would bring a plan to Cabinet and Parliament on concluding outstanding pledges to departed and retired senior public figures, adding that the timeframe would be “very soon.”
Oboth-Oboth clarified that the original pledge was a government commitment, not a parliamentary one. “Parliament is the one that lost a person here. Government committed,” he told the minister, stressing that submitting a paper to Cabinet did not itself constitute fulfilment.
Bukooli County Central MP Solomon Silwany noted that this was “the fourth time” the government had assured Parliament the house would be completed “very soon.”
In March 2022, shortly after Oulanyah’s death, Lango Parliamentary Group chairperson Judith Alyek told the House that President Yoweri Museveni had “accepted to finish it.”
Jacob Oulanyah, a lawyer and agricultural economist, served as Speaker of the 11th Parliament from May 2021 until his death on 20 March 2022 in Seattle, United States, at the age of 56. He had been constructing a large country home in the Lalogi/Ayomlony area of Omoro District as a retirement residence.
In keeping with Acholi cultural practice, his body lay in the unfinished structure before burial on 8 April 2022 at his ancestral home.
Around the time of the funeral, the government pledged support to complete the project. UPDF engineering units were reported to have briefly assisted. Successive assurances followed in subsequent years, including a 2024 visit by then-Speaker Anita Among, who reiterated commitment to the family.
By early 2026, local and media reports described the structure as deteriorating, with sections exposed to the elements and some observers calling it a “shrine” or symbol of unfulfilled promises made at high-profile state funerals.
The house is a private family project. Uganda’s Parliamentary Pensions Act (as amended) provides structured retirement benefits for former Speakers who leave office while living.
These include a monthly allowance equivalent to 60 percent of the sitting Speaker’s salary, a chauffeur-driven vehicle replaced every five years, security personnel, domestic staff, medical care, and utilities support.
The law also addresses benefits for dependents of Speakers who die in retirement. The Omoro house pledge sits outside this statutory framework and remains an executive undertaking whose precise funding, scope and timeline have not been publicly detailed in subsequent budgets or reports.
During the sitting, MPs including Julius Bua described the unfulfilled pledge as an embarrassment and called for a clear timeline. Oboth-Oboth further asked the government to report on similar commitments made to other former leaders who have since died, so that Parliament could debate them.
Wanyoto’s undertaking covers both the specific house and a broader approach to outstanding pledges involving departed or retired senior citizens.
Parliament Watch and other civic monitors have previously highlighted the gap between public assurances given at moments of national mourning and subsequent delivery, framing the issue as one of institutional credibility and consistent application of public resources.
The two-week window now places the matter formally on the government’s agenda. Whether the forthcoming commitment produces a concrete implementation plan, budgetary allocation or revised position will determine if the long-running question moves beyond repeated assurances of “very soon.” Parliament Watch Ug. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
