Government Chief Whip Denis Hamson Obua has again failed to reclaim the Ajuri County parliamentary seat after losing a tightly contested re-election.
According to results announced on Tuesday by the Alebtong District Returning Officer, Michael Olobo, Jalameso Fred of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) emerged victorious with 16,336 votes. Obua, who stood on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket, came second with 15,568 votes.
The re-election was held following disputes arising from the January 15 parliamentary polls. In that election, Jalameso had initially been declared winner after securing 14,331 votes (44.5 per cent), compared to Obua’s 12,963 votes (40.25 per cent). However, the outcome was challenged after it was discovered that results from 18 polling stations in Awei Sub-county had not been included in the final tally.
Jalameso accused the then district returning officer, Jessica Ochen, of irregularities in the tallying process, claiming that only results from 160 of the 178 polling stations were counted. He also alleged that ballot boxes from the affected polling stations were returned without declaration forms and that some figures on the available forms did not match those used in the tally.
Despite the dispute, Jalameso maintained that even if the missing polling stations were included, he still defeated Obua by more than 500 votes. He said he obtained an additional 766 votes from the affected stations, raising his total to 15,097, compared to Obua’s 14,591.
Following complaints of vote rigging and inconsistencies, the Electoral Commission ordered a fresh election in the 18 polling stations across the parishes of Awiri, Acece, Ojul and Owalo in Awei Sub-county.
The re-election attracted five candidates. Apart from Jalameso and Obua, Emmanuel Ongom Okwel of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) polled 2,874 votes, Stephen Omara, an independent candidate, received 519 votes, while another independent, Jasper Molo, garnered 1,585 votes.
Official figures show that 36,882 valid votes were cast. A total of 1,164 ballot papers were rejected, bringing the total number of ballot papers counted to 38,046, while 99 ballots were recorded as spoilt.
