By Steven Enatu
SOROTI CITY
The Electoral Commission of Uganda has cleared the voters of the two wards of Opiyai and Aloet to participate in the upcoming Soroti City East By-elections.
A section of voters had queried illegal parishes of Aloet and Opiyai in Soroti East Division ahead of a by-election scheduled on the 28th July 2022.
The seat in contention was previously occupied by Moses Okia Attan of the Forum for Democratic Change party (FDC), but his election was nullified by the High Court on grounds that it was illegal for the EC to reconstitute the boundaries of Soroti City East.
“Following the above mentioned decision of the Court of Appeal, the EC on June 6 issued a programme for the by-election of the directly elected Member of Parliament for Soroti East Division Constituency and the voters in the parishes of Opiyai and Aloet estimated to be approximately 1,337 voters of Opiyai parish and 3,896 of Aloet parish are now slated to participate in this by-election,” reads in part the petition.
“Allowing the same voters from Opiyai and Aloet parishes to participate in the election yet their votes are part of the results declared on January 15, 2021 for the directly elected Soroti West Division Constituency is unconstitutional and contravenes the laws of the country,” they further stated.
According to the complainants, voters of the two parishes would be voting twice if they are allowed to participate in the by-election and were seeking the voter registers for Soroti East and West Division constituencies to be rectified.
Enyangu Michael Etadu, Opio Enoch and two others petitioned the constitutional court demanding the electoral commission to delete the over 5,000 voters from the two wards from the voters registry of Soroti west and their votes in 2021 elections be cancelled, subsequently causing a by-election also in Soroti west.
Through their lawyers Kaganzi & Co advocates to the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), the voters had expressed their dissatisfaction over what they called “unconstitutional acts and omissions” of not deleting 5,233 voters from the aforementioned two illegal parishes ahead of the July 28 by-election.
The Electoral Commission of Uganda met with the four petitioners of Soroti City East By-elections.
However, on it decision on the petition that came out today the 15th July 2022, EC said the petition had no legal ground to halt the by-election for Soroti city east and the voters in the two wards from voting.
The commission according to the letter issued through the office of the Chairperson of EC Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi indicates that, the commission under CM.MIN 134/2022 found that there was no merit in the complaint filed by four concerned voters who had asked the commission not to allow the two wards to vote.
In his letter copied to returning officer Soroti City/Electoral District Soroti, the commission is not mandated to remove and/or deduct the votes in the two parishes from the declared results of the election conducted on January 14, 2021 in Soroti city West Constituency.
“Following the court of appeal decision on the placement of the two parishes in Soroti city east, the commission is not possessed with the powers to cancel the electoral outcome in Soroti city West constituency,” reads a letter in parts.
“Neither the court judgment nor the electoral laws prohibit the voters registered in Opiyai and Aloet from voting in the constituency, and their participation does not offend the provisions of section 31 of the Parliamentary Election Act, 2005 or any of the enabling electoral laws,” had the letter added.
