The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Tororo has deferred the vote recount for the Tororo district woman Member of Parliament seat to January 27, citing concerns over ballot box tampering.
The court discovered that two ballot boxes had broken seals, while five others had open spaces on the sides, raising suspicions of evidence tampering.
The recount was ordered after Sarah Achieng Opendi (NRM), the first runner-up, disputed the January 15 election results, where she lost to independent candidate Angella Akoth by a narrow margin of 35 votes. Opendi polled 78,507 votes, while Akoth secured 78,542 votes.
During the court hearing, lawyers representing Akoth requested the court to disregard the recount, citing evidence of tampering.
“We have inspected the boxes and found out that two of them have had their seals broken while others have allowances that permits a paper to be inserted… we ask court to disregard the order and allow Electoral Commission to go ahead to gazette my client Akoth in the Uganda gazette as MP elect for Tororo district woman MP electoral area,” said Ms Messiecars Ssekyewa Matovu, Akoth’s lawyer.
However, Opendi’s lawyer, Humphrey Tumwesigye, argued that the claims were baseless assumptions.
“We accept that the two boxes had their seals broken while the five others have allowances which to me could have been created during loading and offloading that must not be counted as an excuse to deny justice to my client,” he said.
Chief Magistrate Irene Nanteby will rule on January 27 whether to continue with the recount or disregard the earlier order.
Opendi’s petition alleges numerical errors at Kanang Church of Uganda polling station and omission of results from 10 polling stations, including Kidoko Central, Papakol Central, Kipangor, Bolimoo trading centre, Ticaf Mosque, Pentecostal Assemblies of God, Bunganga, Nyambulie, Kainja, and Aturukuku Primary School polling stations.
The court had ordered the recount on January 23, and the process was set to take place on January 24.