Otuoma declines to participate in Busia ODM primaries rerun

Funyula MP Paul Otuoma. He has vowed not to take part in the rerun of the Busia ODM governorship primaries in Teso North and Teso South constituencies set for April 25, 2017 as directed by the party's national elections board. PHOTO | GAITANO PESA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • On Sunday, Dr Otuoma gave the party a 48-hour ultimatum to hand him the ticket.
  • The Funyula MP has now said he will make his final decision on Tuesday.
  • He reiterated that he will be at the forefront during the Tuesday demonstration since he cannot lead from behind.

Funyula MP Paul Otuoma has vowed he will not take part in the rerun of Busia ODM primaries in Teso North and Teso South constituencies for the governorship seat set for April 25, 2017 as directed by the party's national elections board.

Instead, Dr Otuoma insisted that the 'Busia Declaration' set for Tuesday is still on if the board, headed by Ms Judith Pareno, will not have handed him the ODM certificate to contest for the seat in the August 8 elections.

On Sunday, Dr Otuoma gave the party a 48-hour ultimatum to hand him the ticket for the Busia seat and disqualify Governor Sospeter Ojaamong whose win was nullified on Friday last week.

Mr Ojaamong garnered 92,358 votes against Dr Otuoma’s 63,752 votes but the win was immediately nullified due to massive irregularities.

FINAL DECISION

The Funyula MP has now said he will make his final decision on Tuesday on the future leadership of the county, adding that the will of the people of Busia must be respected.

"I am going to protect the dignity of Busia people. Your will must be respected at all cost. This is the message I am sending across," he declared.

"We won the elections in broad daylight. Kurudia kura hakuna (There will be no repeat elections)." he added in his tour of Changara, Nambale, Butula and Bumala.

The MP reiterated that he will be at the forefront during the Tuesday demonstration since he cannot lead from behind.

"We shall take over the county. What God has given us no man can take away. The people have spoken. All we want is the certificate. We completely refuse to go for a re-run," he maintained.

ODM has since announced that a re-run will only take place in Teso North and South constituencies where Governor Ojaamong enjoys strong support.

In the just-concluded primaries, the two constituencies gave Mr Ojaamong 44,369 and 33,349 respectively while Mr Otuoma garnered 1,359 and 3,303 votes respectively.