The Commission Spokesman, Paul Bukenya said they declared Achayo after adding votes from eleven polling stations that had missed when Abala was declared. Abala will not any of this, saying he is already consulting his lawyers to petition High Court over the matter.
The Ngora County MP, David Abala is considering suing the Electoral
Commission and his rival, Juliet Achayo Lodou for overturning his victory in
the January 14th, 2021 polls.
The Ngora District Returning Officer,
Peter Toddu declared Abala winner of the Ngora County parliamentary elections on
January 15th with 8,317.
His closest challenger, Achayo got 7,828 votes. Achayo contested
the results and sought a recount through court. Achayo argued that Abala was
declared the winner on the basis of results from 54 out of 65 polling stations.
However, the Soroti Chief Magistrate, Monica Amono dismissed the application with
costs on grounds that the petitioner didn’t provide substantive evidence
warranting a vote recount.
Although Amono noted that there were irregularities in the
elections and tallying of results, she declined to order a vote
recount.
She advised the applicant to seek remedies from a competent court. Achayo pursued the matter at the Electoral Commission in Kampala, which declared her the
winner with 9,517 votes against Abala’s 9,226 votes.
The Commission Spokesman, Paul Bukenya said they declared Achayo
after adding votes from eleven polling stations that had missed when Abala was declared.
Abala will not any of this, saying he is already consulting his lawyers to
petition High Court over the matter. He says that the commission’s declaration
of another winner has left many people with bruises and cost the lives of two
people.
//Cue in “I have all…
Cue out…declaration forms”//
There were unsigned declaration forms from some polling
stations and varying results from polling stations such as Kopege CoU, Kees
Catholic Church, Pasam Mango tree, Opero Catholic Church and Omaditok among
others.
