A former candidate in the Omoro County, Mr Simon Toolit Akecha has petitioned the high court in Gulu to annul the declaration of Deputy Speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah as winner of the Omoro parliamentary seat.
Mr Toolit stood under the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) while Oulanyah was the NRM candidate.
Oulanyah was declared winner by the Electoral Commission with 8,218 votes while Toolit got 6,823 votes.
Toolit, however, disputed the results saying Oulanyah was declared winner by the Benson Obete, the Gulu returning officer without declaration of the number of votes he (Oulanyah got).
A petition notice dated 24, March, 2016, signed by the Deputy Registrar Gulu High Court Mr Henry Babayambe, reads in part: “Take notice (Oulanyah and Electoral Commission) that Akecha has filed a petition against you in court. You are hereby requested to file an answer within ten days after the petition has been served on you,”
Through his lawyers Rwakafuzi and Co Advocates, Mr Toolit lodged ten key grounds which he argues proves that the Omoro Count parliamentary elections was unfair and election results were tampered with.
At a press briefing in Gulu yesterday, Mr Toolit said: “I got dissatisfied with the election results that were changed forcefully yet I was winning in the preliminary results putting me at 7,169 votes while Oulanyah was with 7,053 votes. However later I was shocked when the electoral commission results said I got 6,823 votes.”
Akecha also said that a total of 8 ballot boxes with valid votes were tampered with in Lalogi Sub-county while his elections results from five polling stations within the same sub-county were not reflected in the results declared by electoral commission.
He said he also wants court to order a recount and tallying of votes in the five polling stations namely: Lalogi Division headquarters(A-A), Lalogi division Headquarters (B-Z), Ajuri P7 School, Laminonami market, Lalogi P7, Aketket P7, Loyoajonga market (A-A) and Te-Cwa.
In an earlier interview with Acholi Times, Mr Toolit claims polled 8,031 votes while Mr Oulanyah got 7,676 votes adding that he is the legitimately elected MP for Omoro County.
Toolit also denied allegations that Oulanyah paid him Shs 2 billion to drop the case arguing that he petitioned late because he was still in consultation with his lawyers.
Mr Oulanyah could not be reached for comment on his known phone number.
When contacted, Mr Obete of the Electoral Commission said: “I cannot say much about the matter, all I know is that his agents (Toolit’s) signed on the Declaration forms acknowledging the results were correct. Besides the mandated 30 days for court to grant an order for vote recount has elapsed making their petition baseless,” Mr Obete said.
This is not the first time, Mr Toolit is dragging Oulanyah to court to challenge his election outcome. In 2011, he challenged Oulanyah in court over the same seat and lost the case.
