Who is Jacob Oboth-Oboth? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, relationship with the National Resistance Movement, Makerere University, MP West Budama County South, early life and education of the current Minister of State for Defence in Uganda.
Jacob Marksons Oboth, otherwise known as Jacob Oboth-Oboth, is an Intellectual Property specialist, politician, and lawyer from Uganda.
He was chosen to represent West Budama County South in parliament and is a member of the National Resistance Movement. He also holds the office of State Minister of Defense (general duties).
Oboth-Oboth is the current chair of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and the previous chair of both the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Rules, Discipline and Privileges. He currently has a position on the Parliamentary Business Committee.
Early life and Education
Jacob Oboth-Oboth was raised in an Anglican home and was born on April 13, 1971, in the Tororo District of Eastern Uganda. He was a simple individual who worked odd jobs as a child to make money meet.
He handled everything, including storekeeping and getting water for people for a fee. He had his elementary education at Muwafu Primary School and his O-level schooling at St. Denis Ssebugwawo Secondary School.
Oboth-Oboth was once kicked out of school for failure to pay tuition. Luckily for him though, American missionaries chanced upon him on the streets of Tororo and took him up into their care.
Although it was a challenging period for him, he managed to work as a storekeeper for two years while also doing other menial tasks while serving the missionaries before enrolling in Tororo High School to complete his A-Level education.
In 1997, Jacob Oboth-Oboth was accepted to Makerere University to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Law. During his time at Makerere, he was active in the students’ guild leadership. He later enrolled at Uganda Management Institute for a certificate program in Management.
Oboth-Oboth earned a Bachelor of Laws in 2001, and in 2002, he graduated from the Law Development Center with a postgraduate diploma in legal practice.
He earned two certifications from the International Development Law Organization in 2004: one in intellectual property and one in public procurement.
He also holds a Master of Law from the University of Minnesota in election and cyber law which he attained in 2007.
Career and Work Experience
Oboth-Oboth worked as the deputy attorney general for Tieng Adhola Cultural Institution after earning his law degree in 2001. From the year 2003 through 2010, he worked as a principal state attorney for the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
He worked in Mbale as the State Attorney Mbale Regional Office before travelling to the United States to pursue his master’s degree in election and cyber law at the University of Minnesota.
Oboth-Oboth resumed his position in government in 2007 after his return, continuing until 2010, when he resigned to enter active politics.
During his time in the US, he was able to meet donors who volunteered to start initiatives in his area, which in a way helped win over voters. He had no trouble reaching out to the underprivileged residents of his district since they saw him as one of them.
After defeating the then-State Minister for Labor, Dr Emmanuel Otaala, Jacob Oboth-Oboth was first elected as West Budama South MP (Independent) in 2011. Otaala later attempted but was unable to succeed in, overturning his election in the courts.
After receiving 20,653 votes to Phibby Awere Otaala of the NRM’s 19,462 votes, he kept his seat in 2016. In this constituency, where an incumbent MP hadn’t been re-elected to Parliament since 1996, Oboth-Oboth made history by being the first representative to be elected for a second consecutive term.
Oboth-Oboth served as the chair of the Committee on Rules, Discipline, and Privileges and the parliamentary special committee charged with looking into the energy subsector in the 9th Parliament. He served as the chair of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in the 10th Parliament (2016 – 2021)
He currently serves in the cabinet as State Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs in charge of general duties. He is still chair of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and a member of the Business Committee and the Committee on Rules, Discipline, and Privileges.
In March 2022, Jacob Oboth-Oboth was one of several aspirants who contested for the position of Speaker of Parliament following the untimely death of Hon. Jacob Oulanyah had only just assumed the seat the previous year.
However, the race was ultimately won by Anita Among who had served as the late Oulanyah’s deputy.
Other relevant information
Jacob Oboth-Oboth is a private man who keeps a low profile outside of his official duties.
He is however known to be a philanthropist by his constituents for whom he has partnered with several donors and well-wishers to establish different initiatives aimed at helping the underprivileged in various communities.
This has helped him win the favour of the people who have twice re-elected him to represent them in Parliament making him the first incumbent to be re-elected in the constituency in over twenty years.
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