I Had No Role in Boundary Demarcations-FDC’s Moses Attan Okia

Moses Attan Okia, the Forum for Democratic Change- FDC candidate for the Soroti East parliamentary by-elections, says that he is paying for the wrongs of his opponents who had a hand in the demarcation of Soroti City boundaries.

Attan, the first and the only candidate nominated on Monday, the first day of nominations for the Soroti East MP by-elections, told Journalists that unlike his competitor, Herbert Edmund Ariko, who was in Parliament at the time of the creation of Soroti City, he had no role in the creation or alteration of the boundaries.

He said that his tenure was cut short on flimsy grounds, adding that the electorate will prove his opponent wrong on July 28, 2022.

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The Court of Appeal nullified the Soroti East election results in May 2022 over boundaries demarcations that erroneously annexed Aloet and Opiyai wards to Soroti West Constituency. The ruling followed a petition by the former Soroti Municipality MP, Herbert Edmund Ariko, who said that he lost the 2021 general elections because his strongholds (Aloet and Opiyai) were disenfranchised.

Attempts by the FDC Secretary General, Nathan Nandala Mafabi, and another group comprising four voters to block the by- election over the court decision failed to yield any results. According to Attan, he will continue from where his tenure was cut short by providing effective leadership to the people of Soroti.

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Seven people picked nomination forms for the Soroti City East by- election, according to Christine Eyuu, the Soroti City Returning Officer. She says that other aspirants include the National Resistance Movement- NRM candidate, Herbert Edmund Ariko, the Uganda Peoples’ Congress- UPC’s Pascal Amuriat; Joseph Ogita, Herbert Omoding Isaac Okore and Stephen Omoding- all independents have booked Tuesday, July 19, for nomination.

Eyuu says that they set up some rules for the aspirants during the nomination exercise.

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At the venue, the police have deployed heavily along the roads leading to the Electoral Commission offices in Senior Quarters in Soroti city west Division. There are also the police and army vehicles patrolling the streets, especially in the contested division

Oscar Gregg Ageca, the East Kyoga Regional Police Spokesman, says that they are going to be strict on the security situation in the city especially the illegal campaigns. 

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The Soroti East Constituency seat attracted six candidates in the 2021 general election. They are Moses Attan Okia who was declared winner with 7,606 votes, followed by Herbert Edmund Ariko Okworo, an independent with 7,167 and Jimmy Ekemu of NRM with 397 votes. The others are Sarah Oliver Inachu, an independent with 185 votes, James Herbert Yoweri Elaju of UPC with 99 votes and Arnold Emachu of NUP with 86 votes.