Former UNEB chief Ongom dead

Lira, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The former Executive Secretary Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) David Livingstone Ongom has died.

Ongom 82 died on Friday evening at Nakasero hospital where had been admitted at the Intensive Care Unit. Without divulging details of his death, Ongom’s son Steven Atwii, said that his father had bed ridden for long.

Born in Lira district on June 20, 1937, Ongom was appointed the then East African Examinations Council (EAEC) 1976 deputy secretary in charge of examinations and research until 1980, when the current Uganda National Examination Board was established.

In 1984, Ongom who hails from Palamyek clan in Lango was appointed the acting UNEB Executive Secretary until 1989, when he was confirmed, a position he held until 1996 when he retired and was replaced by Mathew Bukenya.

Ongom joined the Department of Geological Surveys at Entebbe. He was admitted at Makerere University for a postgraduate diploma in education, which he completed in 1968.

He returned to his home area to teach Physics at Lango College up to 1970. Ongom was later transferred to National Teachers’ College (NTC) in Kyambogo as a lecturer of Physics.

Ongom became the NTC’s Deputy Director in January 1973. He would rise to the level of regional chief examiner for Physics under the then East African Examinations Council (EAEC).

In 1976, Ongom joined the EAEC as deputy secretary in charge of examinations and research.

Ongom and his family were later exiled to Nairobi where he got a job as a teacher at Pangani Girls School. Ongom was only able to return to his old job in December 1979, after the fall of Idi Amin.

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URN