Uganda's first beauty queen and 'Iron Lady' Cecilia Ogwal dies

By DEOGRATIUS WAMALA

Uganda is mourning the death of its first beauty queen, long-serving legislator and senior opposition leader Cecilia Barbra Atim Ogwal, who succumbed to cancer while receiving treatment in India aged 77.

Ogwal passed on Thursday morning, according to family sources and Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament Anita Among.

Born on June 12, 1946 in Dokolo District, Northern Uganda
Graduated with Bachelor of Commerce from the University of East Africa in Nairobi, (present-day University of Nairobi), in 1967.
Became Miss Uganda in 1969
Got a certificate in Human Resources Management from the Institute of Public Administration, present-day Uganda Management Institute (UMI)
Worked at Uganda’s Embassy in Nairobi from 1979 to 1980, as the Liaison Officer for returning Ugandan refugees
Worked as operations manager at the Uganda Advisory Board of Trade in 1980-81
In 1982, she was one of the founders of Housing Finance Bank; working there until 1984
Served as the Chairperson of Uganda Development Bank, from 1981 until 1986
Appointed Acting Secretary General of Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), 1985 to 1992
In 1994, she was part of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the 1995 Constitution
From 1996, Ogwal represented the people of Lira Municipality until 2005 when she lost the UPC party ticket to Jimmy Akena, the son of Milton Obote
In 2011, Ogwal contested and won the Women’s Representative seat for the newly created Dokolo District, a position she held until her death
Cecilia Ogwal was a loving wife to Lameck Ogwal and a mother of seven children

Uganda's first beauty queen and 'Iron Lady' Cecilia Ogwal dies

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