The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Pader has dismissed an application filed by independent parliamentary candidate Samuel Odonga-Otto seeking a recount of votes cast in the Aruu County parliamentary elections, citing compromised integrity of several ballot boxes.
Odonga-Otto had challenged the victory of Christopher Komakech of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), who was declared the winner by the Electoral Commission (EC) with 10,455 votes, narrowly defeating Odonga-Otto’s 10,429 votes.
A former Member of Parliament, Odonga-Otto, immediately rejected the results, alleging serious irregularities in 12 polling stations.
He told the court that 175 votes clearly cast in his favour were wrongly invalidated, largely due to failures of Biometric Voter Verification Machines (BVVMs).
He argued that although the machines malfunctioned, voters’ intentions were clearly marked on ballot papers and should not have been invalidated.
Odonga-Otto represented himself in court but was assisted by his lawyer, Kenneth Akena.
He further questioned a wide discrepancy in invalid votes, noting that 407 parliamentary ballots were invalidated compared to only 46 invalid votes in the Woman MP race.
While the Returning Officer admitted to procedural errors and apologised, he maintained that the final tally was accurate.
By URN
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