KAMPALA, UGANDA: President Yoweri Museveni who is also the National Chairman of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has directed that the party flag in Omoro by-election due next month be given to Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, the son of the late speaker Jacob Oulanyah as a decent honour of his father’s legacy.
Following the late’s burial on April 8, the NRM top leaders in the Acholi sub-region suggested that the Omoro county seat be given to the late speaker’s son Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, in a bid to retain the party’s seat in parliament and fend off any possible threat from the opposition parties.
With more than six members expressing interest to contest on the party ticket for the seat, there has been a debate for weeks on whether the party should hold primaries or agree on a sole candidature, many of whom resisted the latter saying it undermines the party democracy to which they belong.
Among the aspirants who showed interest to fill the void left by Oulanyah included Andrew Ojok (fronted by the family of the late speaker), Douglas Peter Okello (the current Omoro District Chairperson), Andrew Olal, Francis Rwotlonyo, Richard Bongowat Luganya, and Ben Acellam.
The resistance from the aspirants to agree on a sole candidature is said to have prompted the intervention of President Museveni who summoned a meeting with all party contestants for the ticket on Tuesday evening ordering them to step down for Ojok.
According to the electoral commission programme, the parliamentary by-elections for Omoro county will be conducted on May 26, 2022.
What the Law says
Section 3(1) (a, b, c) stipulates that whenever an MP dies, or where the seat of an MP becomes vacant under Article 83 of the Constitution, or where the seat of a member becomes vacant under Section 4, 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.
Jacob Oulanyah who was the speaker and Omoro County MP from 2001 to 2005 and then from 2011 died last month in the U.S after battling a cancerous illness for months, leaving a void in the county which will be filled next month according to the electoral commission calendar.
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