MP Okia whose two wives fought at parliament during swearing-in loses seat

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Soroti East MP Mr Moses Okia Attan whose two wives fought during his swearing-in ceremony has lost his parliamentary seat after Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the decision of Soroti high court that annulled his election victory and ordered for fresh elections to be held in the constituency.

Okia’s victory had been challenged by his political rival, Mr Herbert Edmund Ariko, who stated that there were election malpractices and voter disenfranchisement.

In a Tuesday ruling read by the Court of Appeal Registrar Ms Susan Kanyange, the three justices Cheborion Barishaki, Stephen Musota, and Christopher Gashirabake unanimously ruled that it was illegal for the Electoral Commission (EC) to reconstitute the boundaries of Soroti City East Constituency by removing the parishes of Aloet and Opilyai and placing them under Soroti City West Constituency.

“EC had no powers to distort the composition of the Soroti City East Constituency by removing the parishes of Aloet and Opilyai, which had 1,337 voters and 3,896 voters respectively and placing them where the said voters did not belong,” the justices ruled.

The justices added that they had no reason to fault the earlier decision of the High Court in Soroti that had also annulled Okia’s victory.

In August last year, the High Court in Soroti nullified the election of Attan on grounds that his election was conducted in non-existent wards of Aloet and Opiyai.

During the January 2021 polls, Attan won the election after obtaining 7,606 votes, Ariko gathered 7,164 votes, Jimmy Ekemu (NRM) got 397 votes, Sarah Inadiu (IND) got 185, James Herbert Elaju (UPC) 99 votes, and Arnold Emachu (NUP) 86 votes.