Tai told Uganda Radio Network-URN in an interview on Tuesday night that during interrogations, the legislator complained that he wasn’t feeling well and requested for a break. “He came in ok and voluntarily, he recorded a statement but later he said he wasn’t feeling well. I was seated with him in my office with some of his people and police officers, he requested for a break because he wasn’t feeling well,” Tai told URN.
The Aruu
County Member of Parliament, Samuel Odonga Otto is hospitalised at Gulu
Regional Referral Hospital after collapsing while recording a statement at Pader
Central Police Station.
Otto reportedly collapsed at around 6 pm on Tuesday evening
while being interrogation in the office of the Pader District Police Commander
Ramathan Tai in relation to his escape from police custody on January 6th
at Rackoko Trading Center in Awere sub-county in Pader district.
The MP had been
arrested by Police from Awere trading center for alleged failure to observe the
Standard Operating Procedures instituted by the Health Ministry to curb the
spread of Covid-19 and holding campaigns past the 6 pm deadline set by the
Electoral Commission.
Tai told Uganda Radio Network-URN in an interview on Tuesday
night that during interrogations, the legislator complained that he wasn’t
feeling well and requested for a break.
“He came in ok and voluntarily, he recorded a statement but later he said he
wasn’t feeling well. I was seated with him in my office with some of his people
and police officers, he requested for a break because he wasn’t feeling well,”
Tai told URN.
He says that before Odonga collapsed, he had requested to be
taken to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital in Gulu city although police suggested
that they take him to Dr. Ambrosoli
Memorial Hospital Kalongo in Agago district, which was the nearest.
//Cue in: "Hon Odonga Otto...
cue out:...Gulu referral Hospital."//
He also reveals that Police is still holding the legislator’s vehicle, a land
cruiser UEB510X that he abandoned at Rackoko trading center during his escape
from police custody.
Otto lost his bid to retain the Aruu County Parliamentary seat for the fifth
term in the just concluded parliamentary elections.
He was defeated by
Independent candidate, Christopher Komakech who was declared the winner after garnering
9,327 votes against Otto's 5,953 votes.
Julius Ocungi
Mildred Auma
Freelancer