George Labeja the incumbent mayor for Gulu Municipality has been re-elected for another five years in office.
Labeja, originally NRM before switching to Go Forward, got 6,556 votes beating off nine other candidates including NRM’s Alfred Okwonga (5,739) and DP’s Geoffrey Otim who got who came third with 4,289votes.
Other candidates were Martin Aliker FDC who managed 534 votes, Independent candidate Robert Adongakulu (188), independent candidate Denis Okello Oweka (628), Okello Mirriam (185) and Joachim Labongo (65).
The total number of votes cast was 18,214. Invalid votes stood at 562 while the Spoilt ones were 23.
Labeja is credited with ‘‘dealing with thieves’’ during the insurgency in northern Uganda. Most of his supporters including boda-boda riders voted him as the best among the candidates to guarantee their security in the night.
Labeja’s critics said he is not the best man to lead Gulu municipality as it clamours for a city status. One of his strongest critics was Democratic Party President Nobert Mao who said Gulu municipality deserves a candidate befitting of the town that will in the near future become a city.
‘‘Labeja can catch petty thieves but he cannot catch the thieves who steal using pens,’’ Mao said at numerous rallies to campaign for the DP candidate Geoffrey Otim who came third.
Labeja’s education was one of his weakest points from among a section of Gulu voters. When asked about his academic qualification at a recent campaign for mayoral candidates on a local radio station, Labeja said he has the ‘‘equivalent of diploma in artillery’’ which he attained from Pyongyang in North Korea.
Labeja is reported to have been a UPDF soldier while others say he was commander of a local militia that kept security in Gulu town during the insurgency in northern Uganda.
After being declared winner, Labeja said he is a peoples’ leader.
“They said that people of Gulu Municipality would not vote me. Now I have been entrusted with votes. So here I am, “he said.
He also says that those who doubted his education backgrounds should not worry since his services in Gulu Municipality has not been doubted.
Labeja however promised to work with all the leaders in Gulu for better services in the municipality.
For many years Labeja was an NRM supporter but he did not contest in the NRM primaries for fear that he would be cheated instead switching to Amama Mbabazi’s Go Forward camp. He was supported by the FDC in Gulu who abandoned their own candidate Martin Aliker.
