Miria Obote (née Kalule; born 16 July 1936) is a Ugandan politician who was

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, and widow of former Prime Minister and President

Milton Obote Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...

. She was a candidate in the

2006 Ugandan general election General elections were held in Uganda on 23 February 2006. They were the first Multi-party system, multi-party elections since President Yoweri Museveni took over power in 1986, and followed 2005 Ugandan multi-party referendum, a referendum the pr ...

Background and Education

Miria Kalule was born in Kawempe, to Bulasio Kalule, a civil servant who worked with the Department of Road Maintenance in the Ministry of Works and his wife Malita. She attended

Gayaza High School Gayaza High School is the oldest all-girls boarding secondary school covering grades 8 to 13 (Secondary 1 to 6) in Uganda. The school is Church-founded, government-aided and accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports ...

and later

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

. Miria Obote returned to Uganda from Zambia in October 2005, after 20 years in exile, to bury her husband. Two months later, she was elected as head of th
Uganda People's Congress
(UPC) and as its presidential candidate for the next election. The UPC was founded by her husband and led by him until his death. She garnered 0.6% of the vote in the February 23, 2006 presidential election, which was won by the sitting president,

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

Personal life

Miria married

in November 1963 and they had 4 children between them including Jimmy Akena, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

representing Lira Municipality.

References

Walking in Obote’s shadow
''The Monitor'', December 21, 2005. 1936 births Living people First Ladies of Uganda Uganda People's Congress politicians 21st-century Ugandan women politicians 21st-century Ugandan politicians Makerere University alumni People educated at Gayaza High School {{Uganda-politician-stub