IMAGINE Leaders – Norbert Mao

Norbert Mao

Democratic Party (Uganda), President

Born on March 12, 1967, Norbert Mao is a Ugandan lawyer and politician. His destiny seems to be proving naysayers wrong. Abandoned by his mother at eight months he was raised by two strong women – his grandmother and aunt in a remote village in Northern Uganda.

He got his earlier education during the turbulent years of Idi Amin and in the conflict ridden period after Amin’s ouster. Rising above the odds, he joined law school as one of the best students in the country. A firebrand student leader at university, at 29, Norbert was elected to the Ugandan parliament where he served two terms and retired to go and lead the local government of his war torn home district of Gulu. He played a key role in the peace talks between the Uganda government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. In 2010 Norbert was elected President of the Democratic Party, Uganda’s oldest party which he leads todate. In 2011 Norbert was a presidential candidate coming third in a field of eight. He made another unsuccessful run run in 2021. Norbert writes a weekly column in The Monitor newspaper and is a panelist on The Frontline Uganda’s most popular live Television Talkshow which airs every Thursday night on NBS TV. Norbert Mao lives in Gulu and Kampala.

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