Nebbi Municipality election petition kicks off

NSANGI MARA

The hearing of an election petition in which FDC flag bearer, Robert Onega claims to have been rigged by NRM’s Hashim Suleiman yesterday kicked off at Arua High court.

Hashim Suleiman was announced the winner in the Nebbi Municiplaity race after beating his tight contender Onega Robert with a margin of 124 votes.

In court,  Onega said that the election process was not free and affair stating that this had an impact on the results.

Through his lawyer Erias Lukwago, Onega accused Suleiman of conniving with the Electoral Commission to disable the biometric machines that were to be used at every polling station in order to allow even non registered people to vote

“The main points here are the glaring irregularities during the conduct of the election which included falsification of results to the extent of over turning his victory,” Lukwago told court.

He said that Hashim Suleiman used another person’s academic documents during the nominations.

Several witnesses including Hashim’s immediate relatives said he did not complete secondary school and was known to be Okethrwong Achima not Suleiman Hashim.

One of the witnesses said he was given money and other items by different agents from Hashim’s camp to distribute to potential voters.

We have cross examined all our witnesses.  We are remaining with only two who are indisposed. this is crucial because we want somebody with qualifications to be in Parliament,” he said.

Okecha Micheal of OBM chambers representing Hashim Suleiman said that they are ready to defend their seat in Parliament.

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Court ordered that the hearing be held in Nebbi to allow other witnesses to testify.