Opinion
UPC’s Eunice Otuko Apio declared winner of Oyam County North By-Elections
Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) candidate Eunice Otuko Apio has emerged as the victor in the Oyam County North by-elections, Richard Onoba, the Oyam District Returning Officer has announced.
The by-election was held on Thursday to fill the seat left vacant by the late Col (Rtd) Charles Okello Engola, who was fatally shot by his bodyguard, Wilson Sabiiti, in May.
Otuko Apio secured 15,718 votes, defeating her closest rival Samuel Engola Okello from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, who received 15,161 votes. Samuel is the son of the late Charles Engola.
The Forum for Democratic Change’s Freddy Newton Okello came in third with 714 votes, followed by Daniel Okello, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, who received 403 votes.
Out of the 90,733 registered voters from the 167 polling stations, a total of 31,996 voters participated in the elections.
Apio expressed her surprise at the victory, considering the incidents of violence and vote tampering that occurred during the election. She extended an invitation to the other candidates to collaborate for the development of Oyam North.
On the other hand, Engola Okello Samuel stated that he has not yet studied the results and will release a statement in due course.
Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, noted that the overall electoral process was peaceful, with only a few reported incidents.
