On Thursday, Emmanuel Omoding, an independent candidate and son of the late Patrick Okabe, won the hotly contested Serere County MP by-election with 15,638 votes, replacing his father who passed away in a motor accident in December last year.
Omoding defeated four other contenders, including Phillip Oucor of the ruling NRM who received 13,206 votes and Alice Alaso of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) who had 3,335 votes. The FDC candidates, Eng Martin Onguruco and Emmanuel Eratu, came in last with 2,523 and 1,252 votes respectively.
The Serere district returning officer Sylvia Cheptegei announced the results last night, revealing that at least four polling stations had their results cancelled due to violence and malpractice. These stations include Olumoi PAG Church and Odokai in Atiira sub county, Angole primary school polling station in Kyere sub county, and Kangod primary school polling station in Ocaapa Town Council.
Omoding, a 42-year-old social worker based in Australia, was backed by his family and several MPs, including deputy speaker Thomas Tayebwa and government chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua. However, the ruling NRM’s electoral commission chairperson, Dr Tanga Odoi, objected to the proposal and instead endorsed Phillip Oucor, causing a sharp split in the party structures in Serere.
In contrast to previous by-elections where the NRM secretariat participated heavily, the Serere by-election was dominated by the party’s national mobilizer Rosemary Sseninde and the party’s director of communications Emmanuel Dombo Lumala.
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