With just less than four hours after the Soroti High Court nullified the election of Soroti City East Member of Parliament Moses Okia Attan, the legislator has rushed to the court of appeal to challenge the ruling of the High Court.
The High Court in Soroti presided over by Lady Justice Anne Mugenyi earlier today August 31st 2021 nullified the Election of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party flag bearer Attan Okia over election malpractice and voter disenfranchisement.
Attan’s victory had been challenged by his rival, Herbert Edmund Ariko who came second in the January polls.
In her ruling, Justice Mugengyi had ordered that fresh elections be conducted in Soroti City East revealing that there was no valid election held in Soroti City East for a directly elected Member of Parliament.
The high Court judge had also clarified that Court relied on evidence that the election was conducted illegally and the 1st respondent (Attan) was not validly elected as Member of Parliament and ruled that the declaration of the Attan as a directly elected Member of Parliament by the Electoral Commission (2nd Respondent) is annulled and a fresh election be conducted by the Electoral Commission.
The judge also awarded costs to the petitioner to be paid by the two Respondents (Attan and the EC).
But in a twist of events just few hours after revealing the he was in further consultations with his legal team, Attan has decided to run to court of appeal to save the victory.
“It wasn’t our day in court. This wasn’t unexpected because some invisible forces were against us. But at the end of the day, we shall come out stronger,” Attan said.
“Plan B was already in motion before today’s ruling and it won’t fail. We shall overcome this,” he added while calling on calmn amongst voters of Soroti City East.
