Funyula MP Paul Otuoma who left ODM after accusing the party of rigging him out during party primaries. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
ODM Busia Branch has come out to put the record straight regarding the recently disputed party nominations in the county.The party said claims that the vote for gubernatorial contest was rigged in Teso North and Teso South constituencies were baseless.Party County Secretary General Innocent Oluku at a press conference in Busia town said claims the election was rigged in Governor Sospeter Ojaamong’s favour were “a figment of the skeptics’ imagination.”During the party nomination, Ojaamong’s closest challenger, Funyula MP Paul Otuoma claimed there was massive rigging in the two constituencies in Teso in Ojaamong’s favour.“The truth of the matter is that out of the over 62,000 voters registered in Teso South, 70 percent voted,” Oluku said.“About 55 percent of the more than 55,000 registered voters in Teso North voted,” he added.Otuoma had claimed the turn out in Teso South and North, were 105 percent and over 90 percent respectively.“It beats logic to spread propaganda which has no basis. ODM National Elections Board ordered for a repeat of the exercise in Teso region but Paul Otuoma refused to participate,” said Oluku.He said as a former ODM deputy chairperson, Otuoma knew the procedure he should have followed as an aggrieved party.“He needed to file a petition to the County Tribunal but instead he opted to protest the outcome in the press. Many aspirants who appealed to the Tribunal had results of the exercise nullified in their favour and a repeat of the exercise ordered. This is what Otuoma failed to do,” he added.