NRM wins Busia LC5 by-election

By Vision Reporter

Ruling party NRM's Wanyama Oundo Steven has beaten DP's Hasubi Deogratias Njoki in the Busia district LC5 chairman by-election, the Electoral Commission announced on Thursday.

There was a gulf of more than 9,000 votes between the two candidates. Oundo's resounding victory was represented by 31,443 votes while his challenger got 21,844 votes.

As many as 1,358 votes were declared invalid. A total of 54, 645 votes were cast in the poll.
 

NRM flagbearer Wanyama Oundo Steven casts his vote earlier on Thursday. (Photo credit: Egesa Hajusu)

The seat fell vacant after court found previous chairman Adea Ouma guilty of soliciting bribes and abuse of office.

Court then ordered government to kick him out of office, resulting into the opposition political parties agreeing to front DP’s Deo Hasubi Njoki as their joint candidate for the by-election.

Earlier, sections of the top echelons of the opposition side had talked of the significance of the by-election.

A few days before the poll, embattled Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago said the by-election had the potential to make or break the opposition's efforts to have a joint candidate for the 2016 general elections.

"Losing this by-election will be very detrimental to having opposition cooperation but winning it is also significant being that this might be the last by-election. We would thus have beaten the NRM as united opposition thrice and that will speak volumes ahead of the general elections,” he told reporters.

But Lukwago's optimism in Njoki emerging winner was snuffed out when their candidate was announced by the election body as only second-best in a hotly contested by-election.

The final results were declared about 40 minutes to the strike of midnight on Thursday, local time (EAT).

DP's Hasubi Deogratias Njoki, who was jointly fronted by the opposition, came up short of victory. (Photo credit: Faustine Odeke)

NRM chairman President Yoweri Museveni traveled to Busia to rally support for his party's candidate. (Photo credit: Abu Mwesigwa)

In the run up to voting day, opposition's Erias Lukwago said the outcome of the by-election was key for the opposition's ambitions in the coming general elections in 2016. (Phot credit: Tony Rujuta)
 

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