Funyula MP and Busia gubernatorial aspirant Paula Otuoma. He has vowed he will not take part in the repeat of the ODM party primaries after the first one was marred with cases of voter cheating. [PHOTO/kenyawest.co.ke]
Funyula MP Paul Otuoma has said he will not take part in any other ODM repeat primaries in Busia after their earlier results were nullified by the party after claims of voter fraud.
Otuoma said the victory should be given to him after his rival Governor Sospeter Ojaamong was declared to have rigged the poll.
In the race, the governor garnered 92,352 votes to trounce Otuoma who got 63,752 votes.
However, accusations of harassment, vote rigging, and intimidation were to jolt the and raise tensions in the county.
A section on the ODM party also confirmed this and revealed that fraudsters had used tricks to perpetuate voter fraud.
On Friday, ODM said the exercise will be done again.
“The board has made a decision to nullify the Busia gubernatorial nomination results and ordered a repeat exercise on Tuesday 25th April 2017,” read a statement from the party.
However, Otuoma was quick to counter the party statement, saying that he was optimistic the will of the people will be upheld.
“Even the national polls have never witnessed over 100 per cent turnout. It’s a clear case of cooking of results in Teso; the over 3,000 votes I was given are part of the ballot stuffing that we spoke about,” the Funyula MP said.