By Owiny Hope Ochero
The Abim district council speaker Emmanuel George Otoke has written to the Attorney General seeking guidance on how to proceed with the daily operations of the district in the absence of the district chairperson.
The chairperson’s seat fell vacant after a high court in Soroti nullified the election of Captain Omara Yuventine Adyeda as the Abim district chairperson and ordered fresh elections.
Omara had been dragged to court by Ariko Johnny De West who was challenging his victory as district chairperson on grounds that he had not yet retired from his employment in the UPDF where he was serving as a captain by the time of his nomination on 28th September 2020.
In his letter dated 13th March 2023, a copy that this radio has seen and obtained, Otoke is seeking legal advice and guidance on who should perform the functions of the chairperson before the new one is elected and whether placing a notice of appeal to the court of appeal puts off the high court decree
According to section 171(4) of the local government act, 2000 as amended, if the chairperson dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice chairperson shall assume the office of chairperson until the election of a new chairperson.
Godfrey Okech the district vice chairperson when contacted on the matter said the district is operating without interference since the court ruling is barely one week old.
Earnest Ayen, the district youth councilor says the chairperson should keep out of office to avoid interfering with the legal procedures if he chooses to appeal.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Adyeda has started the process of registering an appeal at the appellate court. He however, declined to speak to our reporter saying his lawyers have advised him against speaking to the media.
The petition was first heard by the Hon. Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga who dismissed it in her ruling of 26th August 2021 on a preliminary point of law that the petition was brought under the wrong law, namely, Section 4 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005 instead of the Local Government Act, Cap 243 that governs local council elections.
The petitioner was dissatisfied with the ruling and appealed to the court of Appeal in Election Petition No.041 of 2022. The learned Justices of Appeal, The Honorable Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera, Catherine Bamugemereire and Irene Mulyagonja, JJA in their decision delivered on 19th July 2022 found that the trial judge erred in law when she held that the petition was filed under the wrong law in spite of many other provisions that were cited at the head of the petition.
The Court of Appeal accordingly set aside the decision and orders of the trial judge dismissing the petition with costs and ordered that the petition be returned to the High court in Soroti for hearing on its merits.
