In a shocking twist in the Omoro County byelection, an Alliance for Maj Gen (Rtd) Gregg Mugisha Muntu’s National Transformation (ANT) candidate has called for the disqualification of Jacob Oulanyah’s son Andrew Ojok from the race.
Oscar Kizza says that even when he was nominated to stand as the NRM candidate, Ojok Oulanyah is not qualified to stand for the position of Member of Parliament.
The ANT candidate says that the only qualification that Ojok has is that he is a Ugandan. His complaint stems from the names used by Oulanyah’s son as indicated on his documents compared to what he used for his nomination.
“Andrew Ojok Oulanyah is not his name. The academic papers he submitted belong to Andrew Ojok O. ‘O’ means several things here in northern Uganda and Acholi in particular. We all know the brand name in that family and the biggest at the time Andrew Ojok was born is Okori, not Oulanyah,” explained Kizza.
“So, if he wants to be referred to as Andrew Ojok Oulanyah he needed to have made the world know by swearing a deed poll.”
He insists that the nomination of Ojok flouted section 13 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 2002, and is “irregular and illegal.”
Ojok and Kizza are some of the six candidates in the race to replace Oulanyah, who died in March 2022. The other candidates are: Justine Odong of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Simon Tolit Akecha of National Unity Platform (NUP), as well as independent candidates Jimmy Walter Onen and Terence Odonga.
Campaign meetings and rallies began on May 16 following the conclusion of the nomination exercise last week. President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni, the NRM National Chairman, is expected in Omoro where he will campaign for Ojok on May 24. Voting will happen on May 26, according to the official program released by the Electoral Commission (EC).
