The former Koboko Woman Member of Parliament, Margaret Baba Diri is dead.
The news of her passing was delivered on Thursday on the floor of Parliament by the Koboko County MP, James Boliba Baba.
“Rt. Honourable Speaker, thank you for the privilege and Honorable Members. I regret to inform you that our old colleague, a veteran politician, Hon. Margaret Baba Diri passed on 30 minutes ago on the way to the hospital. We have now asked the funeral caretakers to handle the body and we shall announce further arrangements later on,” said MP Baba.
Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among said that they had got information regarding the former legislator but it was not yet clear.
“We asked for confirmation and now that we have the confirmation, may we raise and observe a moment of silence…we will join in organizing the send-off of both of our colleagues. Hon. Baba Diri did not have eyes, but she would see. She would tell you that chair today I am seeing you putting on red…she would ask her aide and the aide would tell her. That’s God’s work,” said Among.
Baba Diri first served as a representative of People With Disabilities (PWDs) in 1996, before being elected as the Koboko District Woman Member of Parliament, a seat she lost in the last general election.
Before joining politics, Baba Diri was a practising teacher at St. Charles Lwanga in Koboko between 1976 and 1990 and also as a gender development officer at the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) between 1992 and 1996.
During her time in Parliament, Baba Diri was a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, State Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE) and a member of the Committee on Education and Sports.
Baba Diri was born on 29th June 1954 and had a Diploma in Education and a Bachelor’s in Adult and Community Education.
News of her death came shortly after Speaker Among delivered an official statement from Lubaga Hospital, confirming the death of Kawempe North MP, Mohammad Ssegirinya.
“It is confirmed, we have lost our own Hon. Mohammad Ssegirinya. As Parliament we shall be communicating the next plans,” said Among, before Members of Parliament observed a moment of silence in honour of the deceased.
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