At least 10 aspirants have picked nomination forms for the Omoro County Parliamentary by-elections. The Electoral Commission declared the Omoro county parliamentary seat vacant early last month following the death of former legislator and speaker of Parliament, Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah.
Oulanyah succumbed to cancer in Seattle in the United States of America on March 20. Moses Kagona, the Omoro District Electoral Commission Registrar, says that ten aspirants including party candidates and independents have picked nomination papers.
They are Erick Lajul, Jolly Grace Laker, Andrew Okot, Terrence Odonga, and Jimmy Walter Onen, all independents. The others are National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, Forum for Democratic Change Party candidate, Dick Denis Owani, National Unity Platform (NUP) party flag bearer, Simon Toolit Akecha, Brian Cana of Justice Forum (Jeema) and Oscar Kizza from the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT).
Kagona says they still expect more aspirants to pick up nominations, which are just three days away. The electoral commission has scheduled May 12 and 13 for the nomination of candidates at Omoro District Council hall.
“We are still open to receiving applications from aspirants who intend to contest in Omoro County, the application forms are both in soft copies on our website and hard copies in our offices,” Kagona told Our reporter in an interview on Monday. He however says since Wednesday last week, they haven’t received a new application from any aspirant.
Last week, Godwin Okello, who had expressed interest in the Parliamentary race under the Democratic Party stepped down citing personal reasons. The Democratic Party Spokesperson for Acholi Sub-region Justine Simple Man Obol later told our reporter in an interview that the party won’t be fronting another candidate for the Omoro County by-election. The Campaign meetings for the candidates will take place from May 16 to 24 while elections will be held on May 26.