Newly Elected Soroti City East Division MP Takes Oath

Herbert Edmund Ariko, the newly elected Soroti City East Division member of parliament on Tuesday an oath of parliament.

Ariko, who ran on the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party ticket took oath during the 12th sitting of the second session of Parliament chaired by Speaker Anita Among Annet.

Among urged Ariko to represent the interest of his constituents, noting that he would not find it difficult to blend with colleagues who have been in the House before.

Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality MP, also the Whip for the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) protested Ariko’s swearing-in describing the newly elected MP as a beneficiary of the hostility, kidnap, and arbitrary arrests conducted during the by-elections.

But Among ruled him out for speaking without evidence. The Speaker gave Ssemujju time to gather sufficient evidence to back up his claims before he could be allowed to present his issues on the Floor. However, observers reported that the by-elections were characterized by violence and reports of ballot stuffing, especially at Omalera, Otatai, and Owolo Polling Stations.

The Soroti City Returning Officer, Christine Eyuu declared Ariko elected following a hotly contested by-election on July 28th, 2022. He garnered 9,407 votes against his main challenger Moses Attan Okia from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) who polled 8,771 votes.

The Uganda People’s Congress candidate, Pascal Amuriat trailed the pack with 115 votes. Last month, the Court of Appeal nullified Attan’s victory after Ariko contested the results on grounds that his strongholds of Aloet and Opiyai wards were erroneously annexed to the Soroti West, which disfranchised more than 5,000 voters.