By Aggrey Baba
When Uganda’s 11th Parliament opened in May 2021, the mood was full of fresh mandates, political energy, and high public expectation. But as the term peeps into its closure on May 12, 2026, it leaves behind a record that is difficult to ignore.
This has been a Parliament that kept stopping to mourn. Between March 2022 and April 2026, at least eight (8) sitting MPs died while still in office, an unusually heavy toll that has defined the 2021–2026 term as one of the most sorrowful in Uganda’s recent political memory.
The first major blow came on March 20, 2022, when Uganda lost its Speaker, Jacob Okori Oulanyah, who died in Seattle, United States where he had been flown for specialized treatment. As head of Parliament, his death shook the house at its core, forcing an abrupt adjustment within the institution.
Parliament later reorganized and elected Anita Annet Among as the new Speaker, but the emotional weight of that loss lingered.
Before the House could fully recover, tragedy struck again on May 2, 2023, with Charles Okello Engola, then Minister of state for Labour, being shot dead at his home in Kyanja by his own bodyguard. The incident stunned the country and raised more questions than answers, about safety and the pressures surrounding those tasked with protecting leaders.
Just months later, on December 19, 2023, the country was once again thrown into mourning, when Patrick Okabe (Serere County) died in a road crash along the Mbale-Tirinyi highway in Budaka District, together with his wife who also died from the same accident, turning a single tragedy into a double loss that left his constituency reeling.
On January 18, 2024, Uganda lost veteran lawmaker Cecilia Ogwal (Dokolo District Woman MP), an opposition figure who had served in the House since 1996. Her death marked the end of a long and respected political journey, and her absence was immediately felt in the August house.
Grief returned again on September 7, 2024, when Sarah Nyirabashitsi Mateke (Woman MP for Kisoro District) died after suffering a heart attack. She was still actively serving in government, making her sudden death even harder to process for both colleagues and constituents.
By the time 2025 arrived, the pattern had become painfully familiar. On January 9, 2025, Kawempe North MP (NUP), Muhammad Ssegirinya who was commonly known as Mr. Updates, died at Lubaga Hospital after a prolonged illness which intensified after his release from prison where he had, together with Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana, been held for two years on charges of terrorism.
Known for his close connection to ordinary Ugandans, Ssegirinya’s death drew emotional scenes, particularly in the communities that saw him as one of their own.
The losses carried into the final stretch of the term.
On January 17, 2026, Stella Isodo Apolot (Ngora Woman MP, FDC) died shortly after the general elections in which she had lost her seat. What should have been a period of transition instead turned into mourning.
Then, in April 2026, came perhaps the most painful moment of all. NUP’s Helen Nakimuli, the Woman MP for Kalangala District, died at Alexandra Medical Centre in Kampala following what medics termed as a minor surgery. She had already secured re-election in the January 15, 2026 elections and was preparing to return to Parliament for a new term. She never lived to take the oath, leaving her constituents with a mandate that would never be fulfilled.
Across political lines, the losses were shared. The ruling NRM lost four MPs, while both NUP and FDC lost two each. In that sense, grief did not choose sides, but touched every corner of the political divide.
Inside Parliament, the impact was steady and disruptive, as committee work was interrupted, seats repeatedly fell vacant, and by-elections had to be organized time and again. But beyond procedure, there was a quieter reality, that MPs were, again and again, forced to bury their colleagues.
Outside Parliament, the pain ran even deeper, because families lost loved ones. Constituencies lost trusted voices, and in some areas, development slowed as leadership gaps emerged and transitions took time.
That is why Speaker Annet Anita Among’s Parliament will be remembered, not only for what it achieved, but also what it endured. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
