NOBERT AND NAOMI MAO OF DP

Norbert Mao is running as a flag bearer of the Democratic Party (DP) after becoming its first president from outside Buganda. The Chairman of Gulu District is a lawyer and former MP for Gulu Municipality. He speaks three local languages, Luo, Luganda, and Runyankole fluently. Mao is married to Naomi, an independent film maker and they have two sons, Nicholas and Nathan. The two were childhood friends who grew up to become lovers. But the world tore them apart as Naomi went to London for further studies. There, she met UPC’s Olara Otunnu’s brother, Ogenga Otunnu, who is now a professor in the UK and they hit the romantic road to marriage. However, before they could seal it off, Mao crushed in like a thunderbolt. Just after Mao had been nominated as MP for Gulu Municipality in 1996, he stormed London to meet Naomi who was about to marry Ogenga Otunnu. Surprisingly, Mao returned to Kampala with her. His opponents wanted to use this to decampaign him as a man who grabbed someone else’s wife but the Acholi people, instead, saw it as a manly act and showered him with votes. Naomi said her heart had decided which man to go with. Naomi successfully pulled off the ‘Michelle Obama look’ as she accompanied her husband to his presidential nomination, looking absolutely stunning in a trendy black suit. The independent film maker is also said to have hosted Charlize Theron, a famous actress, who was in the country on charity work in Northern Uganda. In an interview with UNAA Times, an online magazine, Naomi said her husband’s politics did not fit in well with her laid back personality. She is so private to the extent that she was not pleased with one of his campaign brochures that bore their family portrait. However, now that Mao is standing for presidency, she just has to surrender her privacy because she will often have to appear besides him during the campaigns