Voter bribery in Omoro county MP polls
Omoro County is on Thursday electing Member of Parliament in highly contested polls,amidst claims of voter bribery and other irregularities. A total of 38000 voters from 292 villages are expected to cast their ballot from at least 84 polling stations.
A total of six candidates subscribing to various parties are participating,among them include; Simon Toolit Akecha, National Unity Platform flag bearer, Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, National Resistance Movement-NRM party flag bearer, Oscar Kizza, and Alliance for National Transformation party flag bearer.
Others are Justine Odong, Forum for Democratic Change party flag bearer, Terrence Odonga, and Jimmy Walter Onen all independent candidates.
The by-election that kicked off at about 7:41 am was largely delayed across the polling stations due to the low turn up of voters. According to Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, the majority of the voters will turn up beyond midday because they have to deal with personal business first in their gardens.
However, despite the low turn up there have been concerns from opposition parties that the NRM is bribing voters, Pre ticking ballot papers and intimidating voters.
Mpuuga, the LOP and NUP party representative says by Wednesday evening, they witnessed NRM party members bribing voters with cash worth 800,000 shillings.
“Several vehicles belonging to the government with covered number plates moved in the night , distributing merchandise . In fact one of the vehicles belonging to the LC3, (NRM) for Omoro County got a mechanical problem while meeting locals at one of the polling stations, the voters have confessed that they were given 800,000 shillings to distribute but when our people intervened , they dispersed and promised to return,” Mpuuga says
He has also alleged that there have been incidents in areas of Akidi, Lakwany and Lakwana of ballot stuffing, tampering with voting materials and intimidation of voters by some individuals and security organs in favour of the ruling NRM.
“In Akidi, the military blocked our agent from accessing particular polling stations,eventually they backed down. We were also informed that one of the polling officers still in Akidi, was allowing voters without National ID’s to cast their votes, Even in Lakwana there is an over zealous member of the Electoral Commission who was following up voters into the basin to see how they are voting,I think he was compromising” He added
Voter bribery in Omoro county MP polls
Mpuuga claims the NRM has since Monday been bribing voters, while plotting to pre-tick ballots.
“We are going to supervise the voting exercise and also the Electoral Commission (EC). If anybody is found disorganizing this election, then it will be the connivance of the Electoral Commission and the ruling party, and we are ready for that,” he added.
However, the Aswa River Region spokesman, David Ongom Mudong, has dismissed the above allegations as baseless. He says security has been beefed up in the area to counter incidents of vote-rigging and violence.
The EC says only candidates’ agents are allowed at the polling station, while those who have finished voting will keep a distance of 100 metres away from the polling area.
Courtesy Images
Compiled by Zainab Ali
