NRM's Akol wins Bukedea LC5 by-election
Ms Mary Akol the NRM candidate Bukedea District chairperson by-election. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- However, the voter turnout across the district was generally low in a poll the opposition alleged was marred by malpractice
The Electoral Commission has declared Ms Mary Akol, the NRM candidate as the winner of the Bukedea District chairperson by-election.
According to the declaration form signed by Mr Joel Mugyenyi, the Bukedea District returning officer, Ms Akol won garnered 79692 votes against her rivals Mr Lokwiski Tychicus Ebukalin who garnered 4941 votes while Mr Sam Oita Odeke got 2343 votes.
Mr Ebukalin was an independent candidate while Mr Odeke was on the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket but decided to withdraw from the race a few hours after the commencement of the voting exercise, citing fraud.
The voter turnout across the district was generally low in a poll the opposition alleged was marred by malpractice.
Mr Patrick Amuriat Oboi, the FDC party president, who was monitoring the election, claimed all the ballot papers had been pre-ticked and the ballot boxes were already filled to the brim at most polling stations.
“Our intelligence sources point to the fact that the majority of these fraudulent ballot papers were pre-ticked from several schools around Bukedea and Bukedea Central Police Station on the night of June 13,” he said.
This publication could not independently verify this claim. The FDC leader said the election can only be characterised as yet another sham, devoid of transparency and legitimacy.
Speaking to the Monitor early Wednesday morning, Mr Ebukalin, the independent candidate, said he had visited a number of polling stations in nine sub-counties out of sixteen across the district to monitor the polling exercise.
Mr Ebuklain alleged that police and the military deployed to guard the polling exercise had overpowered the polling officials and were manipulating the results.
“To be honest, the polling exercise had been overrun by security forces together with RDCs,” he said. However, Mr Oscar Gregg Ageca, the East Kyoga regional police spokesperson, said the situation on the ground was normal and they had not yet recorded any violent incident by 11am.
“Apart from yesterday’s arrest of the LC3 chairperson of Kamutur, the situation is still calm and normal,” Mr Ageca said.
The NRM electoral chairperson, Dr Tanga Odoi, in an earlier media briefing, said the voting exercise was free and fair, adding that in some polling stations, some NRM supporters complained of inadequate ballot papers.
