Odonga Otto is looking forward to another battle to get him back to Parliament.

Odonga Otto was defeated by Christopher Komakech, an independent candidate who garnered 9,327 votes against Otto’s 5,953 votes.

Odonga Otto accused his opponent of harassment during campaigns during campaigns. He alleged that his car was detained for 90 days.

Odonga Otto who served the people of Aruu County since 2001, also told court that he was remand to Gulu Prison before being rushed to Nairobi Hospital following poison.

High Court decision Friday nearly left Otto in tears as he looks to return to the campaign trail to fight for his place in the 11th Parliament.

High Court in Gulu ruled that Komakech did not resign before he went into election contest. It was established that he addressed his resignation letter to ED, Butabika Hospital

The Forum for Democratic Change FDC politician took to Twitter to inform his supporters of the High Court verdict in Gulu.

Hon.odonga otto@odongaotto: HIGH COURT NULLIFIES ARUU ELECTIONS . After going through :Harassment during campaigns, detaining my car for 90 days, remand to gulu to prison,going to nairobi hospital after poison..Justice ASIMWE TADEO . nullifies Aruu elections.I see Gods hands through him.I am all in tears.

Earlier in the week, Odonga Otto had alerted his supporters about the verdict he expected from the court. He seemed to expect victory in the ruling of Justice Asiimwe Tadeo.

Hon.odonga otto@odongaotto: Today the High Court of Gulu presided over by Justice Asiimwe Tadeo, heard the Aruu Election Petition. From what transpired, the judgement is predictable. I have told my Lawyers to wait for further instructions from me before going to hear the outcome this Friday.

Petition
In a letter dated February 1, addressed to the Electoral Commission (EC), Odonga’s lawyers wrote to the electoral body, challenging Komakech’s victory on grounds that he was irregularly nominated.

The lawyers allege that Mr Komakech did not resign from Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital where he worked and that he continued to receive salaries and allowances from the ministry even while he campaigned.

“The law required that all those running for parliamentary elections ought to have resigned from public office by July 12, 2020, but Komakech did not submit the requisite resignation papers at the time of his nominations,” the letter reads in part.
Such anomalies, the lawyers argued, rendered the nomination of Komakech “void ab initio and incurably defective.”
They also claimed that Komakech continued to receive salary/allowances from the Consolidated Fund until October 2020 because he was still employed by the government.

In August, he reportedly received Shs700,122; he then received Shs700,122 in September and Shs100,000 in October, all through his ABSA bank account.
The Electoral Commission guidelines issued for nomination of Members of Parliament, dated June 16, 2020, provided that a person shall not be regarded as duly nominated and shall be regarded as void if the requirement for resignation from public office within the prescribed timeline by law is not complied with before nomination day.

Additional information from Daily Monitor Online