Aciro Lucy Otim who today lost her seat as Member of Parliament for Aruu North has said she will not appeal against the Gulu high court ruling.
Addressing a press conference at Northern Uganda Media Club this afternoon, Aciro accompanied by her lawyer Odonga Otto, said she will not appeal the court decision but will instead let the people of Aruu North be the judges.
“Court has taken its decision and I respect it, am ok with it I will be getting back to the people and campaign to prove to the people that I won the election with more than two votes,” Aciro said.
Aciro also announced that she will seek to stand as a candidate for the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). She said she is optimistic to win back here seat.
Odonga Otto her lawyer who is also the Aruu County member of parliament said they will notify the electoral commission to organise for fresh elections as soon as possible saying they are also glad that the court did not declare Nabison Kidega as a winner of the Aruu North election.
”We want it organised even tomorrow so we can win back the seat. The real Court of Appeal is the people. That is where we are going,” Otto said.
Justice David Matovu today morning annulled the election of Aciro Otim citing noncompliance with election laws by the Electoral Commission(EC).
In a December 2 petition before Gulu High Court, James Kidega Nabison, Aciro’s political rival, accused her and the EC of connivance to strip him of victory.
Kidega was the candidate for the National Resistance Movement(NRM) party while Aciro run on an independent ticket.
Through his lawyers Ladwar, Oneka & Company Advocates, Kidega stated that he was not satisfied with the electoral commission on how it conducted the parliamentary elections in Aruu.
Justice Matovu ruled that because the Election Commission (EC) did not comply with the laws, the result of the election was substantially affected.
The judge also noted that destruction of voting shortly before a vote recount for the Aruu North seat made it impossible to call for a recount.
Justice Matovu fined the EC for noncompliance with the law and ordered them to meet half the cost of Mr Kidega’s legals costs. But the judge said he found no evidence that Aciro was engaged in election malpractice.
