EC declares Omoro County seat vacant

The Electoral Commission (EC) has declared the Omoro County seat vacant following the death of Jacob Oulanyah

What you need to know:

  • National Unity Platform (NUP) party spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi said: «We are discussing among us to see how to prepare for that seat and we know we shall get a candidate for that place. As the Constitution mandates us, we have to go for a by-election and we are people who follow the law.”

The Electoral Commission (EC) has declared the Omoro County seat vacant following the death of Jacob Oulanyah. 
Oulanyah was the Omoro County MP from 2001 to 2005 and then from 2011 until his death. He is also the former Speaker of Parliament.

President Museveni announced the death of Oulanyah on March 20. He died of multiple organ failure in Seattle, US, where he had gone for treatment. He was 56.
In an interview with this publication yesterday, Mr Paul Bukenya, the EC spokesperson, said the Clerk to Parliament on March 26, notified them of an urgent need to fill the Omoro County seat. 

“We have notified all political parties about the need to [fill] the seat but we are officially releasing the detailed programme for this exercise after the burial of the late MP (scheduled for today), so that people can start to prepare for campaigns,” Mr Bukenya said.
Mr Bukenya said: “It is our mandate as EC to organise elections but we wanted to first wait for the relatives and the entire Omoro to mourn and by Saturday (tomorrow), we would come in with the election news.”

Section 3(1) (a, b, c) stipulates that whenever a Member of Parliament dies or where the seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant under article 83 of the Constitution or where the seat of a member becomes vacant under section four, the Clerk to Parliament shall notify the Commission in writing within 10 days after the vacancy has occurred; and a by-election shall, subject to section 95, be held within 60 days after the vacancy has occurred.

During a vigil at Oulanyah’s home in Muyenga, Kampala, on Tuesday, members of the Acholi Parliamentary Group said the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, had tasked them with ensuring that Oulanyah’s son, Andrew Ojok, replaces him as Omoro County MP.

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National Unity Platform (NUP) party spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi said: «We are discussing among us to see how to prepare for that seat and we know we shall get a candidate for that place. As the Constitution mandates us, we have to go for a by-election and we are people who follow the law.”
Mr Jimmy Akena, the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party president said: «UPC gets candidates from the community. The people on that side will decide if we are to field a candidate or not. Until then, I can’t have any comment.»

 Mr Harold Kaija, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) secretary-general, said: «I know we had a candidate there in the last election but I don’t remember the name. We are discussing internally and we shall come up with a candidate for that position.”

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