Oulanyah’s son
Omoro County decided on Thursday to send Andrew Ojok son to former Speaker of Parliament and former MP of the area to represent them in the August house. At 10 pm on Thursday, the Ojok was declared winner by the Electoral Commission.
The deceased father Jacob Oulanyah, died in March in Seattle in the USA after a long illness resulting from Cancer.
17,454 voters out of the 38,638 from the 84 polling stations participated in the highly contested polls.
Ojok who came on the National Resistance Movement, (NRM) ticket, took the day with a landslide victory against five others in the dramatic polls. He was declared the winner of the elections from Lalogi Sub County headquarters by the Omoro district returning officer Moses Kagona.
Ojok scored 14,224 votes against National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Simon Toolit, who came second with 1,633 votes. Independent candidate Terrence Odonga scored 532 votes, while the Forum for Democratic Change candidate, Justine Odong, got 529 votes, and Jimmy Walter Onen (Independent) got 88 votes.
Oscar Kiiza, the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party candidate, came in last with a total of 63 votes while there were 385 invalid votes.
Following the landslide win, Ojok vowed to follow in his father’s footsteps by developing Omoro and her as it was his father`s legacy.
“I am going to work with the people. If we are to develop Omoro County, it requires a combined effort and not me alone, I have to be with the people, listen to them and work together with them,” he said.
The Opposition has previously shunned the entire election process in Omoro County, declaring it as marred by multiple irregularities and voter intimidation.
Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition and NUP party representative said on Thursday that they had witnessed NRM party members bribing voters with cash worth 800,000 shillings.
“Several vehicles belonging to the government with covered number plates moved in the night , distributing merchandise . In fact one of the vehicles belonging to the LC3, (NRM) for Omoro County got a mechanical problem while meeting locals at one of the polling stations, the voters have confessed that they were given 800,000 shillings to distribute but when our people intervened , they dispersed and promised to return,” Mpuuga told our reporter
Oulanyah’s son
He has also alleged that there have been incidents in areas of Akidi, Lakwany and Lakwana of ballot stuffing, tampering with voting materials and intimidation of voters by some individuals and security organs in favour of the ruling NRM.
“In Akidi, the military blocked our agent from accessing particular polling stations,eventually they backed down. We were also informed that one of the polling officers still in Akidi, was allowing voters without National ID’s to cast their votes, Even in Lakwana there is an over zealous member of the Electoral Commission who was following up voters into the basin to see how they are voting,I think he was compromising” He added
Oscar Kizza, the (ANT) candidate also noted that the result is not surprising since it was marred with vote-buying and bribery. He says he will seek the court to oust Ojok from Parliament since he had irregularities in his candidature.
“The number of returning officers brought here just gave us a message. We heard information two weeks ago that results were being manufactured in town. He has issues with his academic documents and the moment he has been gazetted, the team of lawyers are ready and we will file in court.” He says
