Oboth fights Otaala with court orders
Nov 19, 2010
IN West Budama South, rival political camps have been celebrating in turns since the NRM primaries in August. The rivalry has turned into outright hostility between labour state minister Dr. Emanuel Otaala and Jacob Oboth-Oboth, a lawyer.
By Moses Nampala
IN West Budama South, rival political camps have been celebrating in turns since the NRM primaries in August.
The rivalry has turned into outright hostility between labour state minister Dr. Emanuel Otaala and Jacob Oboth-Oboth, a lawyer.
First, Oboth-Oboth secured a court injunction to block voting in Otaala’s sub-county, Iyolwa, accusing Otaala of inflating the voters’ register in the area.
The NRM electoral commission ignored the order and proceeded with the voting. Otaala and Oboth-Oboth each declared victory as the district NRM returning officer, Mohammed Yawe, fled Tororo.
Oboth-Oboth argued that the votes from Iyolwa were null and void because of the court injunction. And without votes from Iyolwa, he had 17, 835 against Otaala’s 11,123.
Otaala, on the other hand, included votes from Iyolwa and this put him ahead of Oboth-Oboth.
Weeks later, Yawe issued a report including votes from Iyolwa, declaring Otaala was the winner. Oboth-Oboth went back to court and the results from Iyolwa were nullified. Court ordered NRM to clean the register and conduct a re-run of the elections in Iyolwa.
As the NRM prepared to repeat the elections on November 6, Oboth-Oboth rushed back to court and secured an injunction for a third time. Court granted his request on grounds that the register had not been sufficiently cleaned.
But the NRM decided to proceed with elections. On the morning of November 6, NRM officials were swamped by Oboth-Oboth’s supporters who insisted voting could not be done without cleaning the register.
Oboth-Oboth was with them, wielding a court injunction he had secured the previous day. “I am here to witness how the police is going to implement the court order stopping the polling exercise,†a restless Oboth told the press.
But instead Police was under instruction to ensure the voting proceeded peacefully.
As voting materials were loaded onto trucks at the Police station, Oboth-Oboth’s supporters run riot. Armed police personnel opened fire and launched tear gas canisters, dispersing them.
At the end of the day, official results showed Otaala had collected 9,000 votes and Oboth-Oboth got 45. Final results put Otaala in the lead.
Oboth-Oboth is now preparing to be nominated as an independent candidate.
IN West Budama South, rival political camps have been celebrating in turns since the NRM primaries in August.
The rivalry has turned into outright hostility between labour state minister Dr. Emanuel Otaala and Jacob Oboth-Oboth, a lawyer.
First, Oboth-Oboth secured a court injunction to block voting in Otaala’s sub-county, Iyolwa, accusing Otaala of inflating the voters’ register in the area.
The NRM electoral commission ignored the order and proceeded with the voting. Otaala and Oboth-Oboth each declared victory as the district NRM returning officer, Mohammed Yawe, fled Tororo.
Oboth-Oboth argued that the votes from Iyolwa were null and void because of the court injunction. And without votes from Iyolwa, he had 17, 835 against Otaala’s 11,123.
Otaala, on the other hand, included votes from Iyolwa and this put him ahead of Oboth-Oboth.
Weeks later, Yawe issued a report including votes from Iyolwa, declaring Otaala was the winner. Oboth-Oboth went back to court and the results from Iyolwa were nullified. Court ordered NRM to clean the register and conduct a re-run of the elections in Iyolwa.
As the NRM prepared to repeat the elections on November 6, Oboth-Oboth rushed back to court and secured an injunction for a third time. Court granted his request on grounds that the register had not been sufficiently cleaned.
But the NRM decided to proceed with elections. On the morning of November 6, NRM officials were swamped by Oboth-Oboth’s supporters who insisted voting could not be done without cleaning the register.
Oboth-Oboth was with them, wielding a court injunction he had secured the previous day. “I am here to witness how the police is going to implement the court order stopping the polling exercise,†a restless Oboth told the press.
But instead Police was under instruction to ensure the voting proceeded peacefully.
As voting materials were loaded onto trucks at the Police station, Oboth-Oboth’s supporters run riot. Armed police personnel opened fire and launched tear gas canisters, dispersing them.
At the end of the day, official results showed Otaala had collected 9,000 votes and Oboth-Oboth got 45. Final results put Otaala in the lead.
Oboth-Oboth is now preparing to be nominated as an independent candidate.