The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A former contestant for the Terego East parliamentary seat has gone to court to challenge the outcome of the election in which Minister Mario Obiga Kania emerged the victor.
The candidate Apama Amato Boroa, one of the five candidates who competed for the seat is seeking a court declaration that the academic documents that Obiga Kania used for his nomination did not match with his known name.
According to Boroa, one of the documents that were presented for the nomination of the candidate indicates that the bearer was known as Morris. A. K. Obiga, another bears the name Morris Azuma Kania Obiga, the third is in the names of Obiga Mario, while the other documents bear the name Obiga Mario Kania and the last one lists him as Obiga Kania. He argues that such a representation is erroneous and illegal.
Obiga Kania, a candidate of the ruling National Resistance Movement -NRM party, secured the win with 10,544 votes, while Apama Amato Boroa, an independent candidate got 5,925 votes. But Boroa wants the court to nullify the outcome of the process and declare the runner-up the legitimate winner for the seat. He is also seeking a permanent injunction restraining Obiga Kania from contesting for any elective position and from being sworn in as a legislator when Members of the 11th parliament take oath in May 2021.
Jimmy Madira, the lawyer representing Boroa in the matter told URN that the Electoral Commission is already served as they hunt for Minister Kania to have him served with the petition.
The other candidates in the same race included Draga Carmello Joy who obtained 4,569 votes, Jadribo Victor of the National Unity Platform who secured 2,188 votes, Adriko Bens Geoffrey who got 1,396, Awuga Robert Obale of the Forum for Democratic Change-FDC who got 827 votes, Aliga Andrew Albano Duyia with 530 votes and Onama Kalisto from the Democratic Party-DP who came last with 415 votes.
A month to the general election held on January 14, Martin Andua Drani, the candidate of Alliance for National Transformation-ANT was denominated on grounds of mismatch in names on the academic papers he presented to the EC.
Efforts to reach Obiga Kania yielded no fruit by this morning because he could not pick repeated calls until his phone went off. However, some sources close to the Minister intimated that he is aware of the petition against his election.
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