Prime
Minister Onek accuses three MPs of defamation, wants Shs400m
Accused MPs: Mr Odonga Otto (Aruu county), Mr Gilbert Olanya (Kilak south) and Mr Okin Ojara (Chua west). PHOTOS| PARLIAMENT| FILE
What you need to know:
- The minister says that the legislators went ahead to spread the defamatory allegations against him through social media across various platforms among his colleagues.
The Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Eng. Hillary Onek has sued three lawmakers seeking for Shs400 million as damages for allegedly defaming him.
The MPs are; Mr Odonga Otto (Aruu county), Mr Gilbert Olanya (Kilak south) and Mr Okin Ojara (Chua west).
The three are members of the Acholi Parliamentary Group (AGP), a social parliamentary group known constituting mainly legislators from Acholi sub-region.
In a law suit filed before the Civil Division of the High Court, the minister claims that on June 17, 2020, the legislators together with a one Ms Stella Kijange appeared one of the local radio stations and uttered false statements which were detrimental and injurious to him.
The minister further states that Mr Otto accused him of not being a Ugandan and masquerading as an Acholi whereas his true family roots are in South Sudan, adding that he (Otto) allegedly knew his (Onek’s) brother who serves as a permanent secretary in Juba and sister who serves as an MP in Sudan.
The minister states that the allegations that he is not a Ugandan serves to alienate him from his people in Lamwo and also reinforces other allegations that he is an oppressive land grabber.
“That the first defendant (Otto) also accused the plaintiff (Onek) of intimidating him and his colleagues including the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) by barring them from visiting Lamwo District. He claimed precisely to bear a letter wherein the plaintiff warned them against going to Lamwo,” reads in part the court document.
Accuser: The Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Eng. Hillary Onek
In the court documents, the minister denies intimidating LoP or the three legislators, as he explains that he only wrote to the clerk to Parliament advising against their visit because he was not aware of any land wrangles as the area MP.
The minister accuses Mr Olanya and Mr Ojara who were also co-guests at the radio talk show of seconding all the alleged false utterances and statements.
“That further to these utterances made on the radio talk show, the defendants went ahead and authored a defamatory report against the plaintiff making more allegations that taint the reputation of the plaintiff,” court documents read further.
The minister says that the legislators went ahead to spread the defamatory allegations against him through social media across various platforms among his colleagues.
Mr Onek says that the different social media forums have various leaders including MPs and ministers from Acholi sub-region which has severely dented his reputation.
Through his lawyers of Lex Uganda Advocates, the minister is seeking for a declaration that the legislators’ actions were defamatory and a joint public apology retracting their statements.
