{{short description|Minister of Justice, Ugandan lawyer and politician (born 1967)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Norbert Mao | image = Norbert Mao (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Mao in 2017 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|3|12|df=yes}} | birth_place = Uganda | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = Makerere University<br/>{{small|(Bachelor of Laws)}}<br/>Law Development Centre<br/>{{small|(Diploma in Legal Practice)}}<br />Yale University<br/>{{small|(International Fellowship)}} | occupation = Lawyer and politician | years_active = 1996–present | citizenship = Uganda | known_for = Politics | networth = | title = | spouse = Naomi Achieng (2003-2019) <br/> Beatrice Kayanja (2024-present) }} thumb|Campaign poster for DP presidential candidate Norbert Mao. Designed by Samson Mwaka for the February 2011 issue of the Kampala Dispatch Magazine.
'''Norbert Mao''' is a Ugandan political activist and lawyer. He has been president of the Democratic Party since 2010,<ref>{{cite web | title=Uganda: Political Parties React to Mao DP Election | date=22 February 2010 | author=Charles Ariko | url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201002230015.html | first=and Jude Kafuma | newspaper=New Vision via AllAfrica.com | location=Kampala}}</ref> three time presidential candidate and served as the Local Council 5 chairman for Gulu District. He is the current minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs in the Ugandan government,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=▶️ IN THE WEEK PAST: Mao sworn in as Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/139777 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=New Vision |date=31 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> an office he assumed on 21 July 2022. He was appointed to this position by Yoweri Museveni, the president of the Republic of Uganda.<ref name="CabfillR">{{cite web| work=Daily Monitor | url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/museveni-appoints-mao-justice-minister-3887380 |title=Museveni appoints Mao justice minister |date=21 July 2021 | author=David Vosh Ajuna |access-date=22 July 2021 | location=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The appointment drew immense criticism from the Democratic Party, an opposition party he is currently serving as president.<ref name=":0" /> It was seen as a move by President Museveni to tame the Party and clip its wings to criticize his government.
==Early life and education== Mao was born on 12 March 1967. His father, Dusman Okee Sr. (5 January 1942 – 3 January 2016), was Acholi<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1413965/mao-father-dies-aged | title=Mao's father dies aged 74 | date=3 January 2016 | author1=Jackson Kitara | author2=David Lumu | newspaper=New Vision | location=Kampala | accessdate=3 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | date=3 January 2016 | accessdate=3 January 2016 | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Norbert-Mao-father-dead/-/688334/3020240/-/asq2igz/-/index.html | title=Norbert Mao's father is dead | last=Okuda | newspaper=Daily Monitor | location=Kampala | first=Ivan | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060855/http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Norbert-Mao-father-dead/-/688334/3020240/-/asq2igz/-/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> and his mother was a Munyankole. Mao attended Mwiri Primary School in Jinja and briefly went to Wairaka College in Jinja District before attending Namilyango College, a prestigious all-boys boarding high school in Mukono District from 1982 until 1988. He then attended Makerere University from 1988 until 1991, graduating with a law degree. He served as the president of the Makerere University Students Guild between 1990 and 1991. He went on to obtain the Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center in 1992. In 2003, Mao was admitted to Yale University, under the Yale World Fellows Program, where he spent one year at the New Haven, Connecticut campus.<ref name="CV">{{cite web | accessdate=3 January 2016 | title=Norbert Mao's Curriculum Vittae | date=2000 | url=http://www.parlnet.org/admindb/docs/NORBERTMAOCV.pdf | first=Norbert | last=Mao | publisher=Parlnet.org | archive-date=12 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512231939/http://www.parlnet.org/admindb/docs/NORBERTMAOCV.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Career== alt=Norbert Mao|thumb|'''Norbert Mao''' From 1992 until 1994, Mao worked as an associate attorney in the offices of Kabugo and Company Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm. Between 1994 and 1996, he worked as a legal counsel for the Legal Aid Project of the Uganda Law Society in their Gulu office.<ref name="ProflR"/> In 1996, he was elected to the Parliament of Uganda, representing Gulu Municipality. While in parliament, he served on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and the Public Accounts Committee. He resigned from Parliament in 2006 and was elected chairman of Gulu District.<ref name="ProflR">{{cite web | url=http://whoinafrica.com/person/18 | title=Who Is Who in Africa: Norbert Mao | date=February 2022 | work=Who Is Who in Africa | access-date=16 February 2022 | archive-date=1 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201080834/https://whoinafrica.com/person/18 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Mao is chairman of the East African chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and member of its secretariat.<ref name="CV"/> Also, he helped found the Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on Peace (AMANI Forum). He was instrumental in trying to bridge the gap between the Lord's Resistance Army rebels and the Ugandan government by lobbying for the passage of a general amnesty law aimed at bringing a peaceful resolution to armed conflict in northern Uganda.<ref>{{cite web|date=5 January 2016 |access-date=5 January 2016 |url=http://worldfellows.yale.edu/fellows?title=&field_region_tid=All&field_field_of_work_tid=All&page=5|title=Meet the World Fellows: Yale University |publisher=Yale University |location=New Haven, Connecticut, United States}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=15 March 2007 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6454293.stm |author=Karen Allen |title=Uganda's war victims live on hope |access-date=5 January 2016 |publisher=BBC | location=London}}</ref> He belongs to the Democratic Party<ref name=":0" /> and publicly indicated his intention to contest the 2011 Ugandan presidential elections, either as the nominee of his party or if not nominated on the party ticket, as an independent. He was elected as President of the Democratic Party on 20 February 2010 and ran for President of Uganda in the 2011 general election.<ref name="Obama">{{cite web|accessdate=5 January 2016| url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Elections/-/859108/1039872/-/jkbhde/-/index.html|title=2011 UGANDA ELECTIONS: I'm the 'Obama' – Mao|author1=Emmanuel Mulondo|author2=Sheila Naturinda|date=25 October 2010|newspaper=Daily Monitor| location=Kampala}}</ref> The DP faced a lot of challenges that led to a split and deep polarization at the height of the election. He attracted only a small share of the vote, and President Yoweri Museveni was elected to another term. Mao and Inter Party Coalition presidential candidates Kizza Besigye and Olara Otunnu, among others, protested the election results in spite of its early approval by international observers and the United States as largely free and fair.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12516562|title=Uganda election: Yoweri Museveni wins fresh term|date=20 February 2011|accessdate=5 January 2016 |publisher=BBC|location=London}}</ref>
On 21 November 2020, Mao, along with fellow opposition presidential candidates Bobi Wine, Henry Tumukunde, Mugisha Muntu, and Patrick Amuriat Oboi, agreed to form an alliance.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.independent.co.ug/presidential-candidates-join-forces-to-deal-with-police-brutality/|title=Presidential candidates join forces to deal with police brutality |date=21 November 2020}}</ref>
On 20 July 2022, Mao was appointed Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs by president Museveni in a move that sparked off a debate about his allegiance to the opposition.<ref name=":0" /> On 28 July 2022, Mao was sworn in at State House Entebbe with President Museveni as the main witness.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-27 |title=Norbert Mao Sworn in As Minister For Justice at Entebbe State House |work=KAB News |url=https://kab.news/norbert-mao-sworn-in-as-minister-for-justice-at-entebbe-state-house/ |access-date=2022-07-27 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
Nobert Mao has been a regular attendee and speaker at the annual Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) convention in the USA.<ref name="UNAA_PastConventions">{{cite web |title=Past UNAA Conventions |website=Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) |url=https://unaaonline.org/past-unaa-conventions/ |access-date=2026-02-18}}</ref>
==Personal life== Mao was married to Naomi Achieng Odongo, and they have two sons together.<ref name="Obama"/> They divorced on 27 May 2019, after 16 years of marriage.<ref>{{cite web|newspaper=Daily Monitor |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Mao-marriage-Naomi-dissolved-court-Ntinda-Gulu-/688334-5140436-159l658/index.html | title=Mao's marriage with Naomi dissolved by court |date=1 June 2019 |author=Anthony Wesaka |place=Kampala}}</ref> On 1 June 2024 Mao married Beatrice Nambi in Gulu City.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Justice minister Mao weds Beatrice in Gulu |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/NV_189238 |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=New Vision |date=June 2024 |language=en}}</ref> He speaks Luo, Luganda, Runyankole, and English fluently.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=5 January 2016 |date=17 January 2011 |location=Kampala | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Elections/-/859108/1090628/-/jntf6k/-/index.html |title=I want a new beginning – Mao on the future |author=Michael Ssali |newspaper=Daily Monitor}}</ref> Mao is a step-brother to Daniel Kidega, the former speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly.<ref>{{cite web|newspaper=New Vision |access-date=5 January 2016 | url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1414051/hundreds-attend-mao-father-funeral |author=Donald Kiirya |date=4 January 2016 |location=Kampala | title=Hundreds attend Mao father's funeral}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Mugisha Muntu * Bobi Wine * Kizza Besigye
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20101209233611/http://www.gulu.go.ug/ Website of Gulu District] * [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norbert-Mao/89143559143?ref=ts Norbert Mao on Facebook]
{{s-start}} {{succession box|title=President of the Democratic Party||before=John Ssebaana Kizito|after=Incumbent|years=2010 – Present}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mao, Norbert}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Acholi people Category:Ugandan activists Category:20th-century Ugandan lawyers Category:Makerere University alumni Category:People educated at Namilyango College Category:Ugandan Roman Catholics Category:People from Gulu District Category:Government ministers of Uganda Category:Members of the Parliament of Uganda Category:Law Development Centre alumni Category:People from Northern Region, Uganda Category:Democratic Party (Uganda) politicians Category:Leaders of political parties in Uganda