Former UPC stronghold Hon. Cecilia Ogwal dies from India.

The woman member of parliament for Dokolo District Hon. Cecilia Barbara Atim Ogwal nicknamed “the iron lady” has this morning passed away in a hospital in India where she has been receiving medical treatment.

The news of her demise has been announced by the speaker of Parliament R.t Hon. Annet Anita Among on behalf of the 11th parliament.

“It is with a heavy heart and pain  that I announce the passing of our Mother, Mentor and role model Imat Cecilia Atim Ogwal, the Honourable Member representing the Women of Dokolo District. I send my sincere sympathies to her dear husband and the family, friends, the people of Lango and colleagues!  May her soul find eternal rest.” Anita Among announced on her Twitter account 

According to the reports the Dokolo woman member of parliament had been battling cancer at the time of her death.

Cecilia Barbara Atim Ogwal was born on 12 June 1946, she has been both a Ugandan politician and a businesswoman. She has been the Member of Parliament for Dokolo District Women’s Constituency and she's served as a legislator continuously since 1996.

In 1969, at the age of 23, she won the “Miss Uganda” contest. Ogwal is a member of the parliamentary Committee of Physical Infrastructure in charge of overseeing and covering policy matters related to Lands, Housing, Urban development, Works and Transport, and Physical Planning. She was also a member of the budget committee 

She became involved in Ugandan politics, serving as the Acting Secretary General of Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) from 1985 to 1992. In 1994, she was part of the Constituent Assembly which drafted and promulgated the 1995 Ugandan Constitution. She remained a high-ranking official in the UPC political party until 2004. During the 2006 parliamentary elections, she lost her Lira Municipality seat to Jimmy Akena, the son of UPC founder Milton Obote. In 2011, Ogwal contested and won the Women’s Representative seat for the newly created Dokolo District. This time she switched political parties and ran as a full member of the Forum for Democratic Change party, where she has served until the time of her death.