Former Chua West parliamentary candidate Eng. Allan Akena has dropped his challenge questioning Simon Peter Oryema Adum’s academic qualifications. He, however, pushes on with the petition about alleged nomination irregularities and uncertified evidence.
The decision followed an objection by Alfred Oryem Okello’s defence team. The development emerged during a scheduling conference before Justice Amos Kwizera at the Kitgum High Court Circuit, where Akena’s legal representative, Joseph Okwir, outlined the refined scope of the petition.
Okwir informed the court that after consultations, the petitioner narrowed the suit to three core issues: whether Adum was validly nominated under statutory requirements, whether electoral offenses were committed during the election process, and what remedies should be granted.
According to the petitioner’s submission, Adum’s nomination form lists 10 supporting registered voters, the legal threshold required for parliamentary candidates, but only nine of them appended signatures against their names.
Under Section 30 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap 177), a nomination paper is deemed void if it is not properly signed and supported by at least 10 registered voters in the constituency, alongside two voters proposing and seconding the candidate in person.
“We want to prove whether the respondent was duly nominated, given that number three of the 10 required supporting voters failed to sign against their name,” Okwir argued before the bench.
Okwir added that since one person didn’t append their signature against their name, it raises a question about the authenticity of the nine signatures.
Okwir further contended that the nomination paper lacked an official stamp and noted that the tally sheets and Declaration of Results (DR) forms submitted by the respondent were not certified, despite being public documents. On those grounds, he asked the court to strike out the uncertified documents.
Following the withdrawal of the academic credentials claim, Justice Kwizera fixed October 5 and 6, 2026, for the formal hearing of the revised petition.
Justice Kwizera tasked the legal teams with ensuring that SSP Sylvia Chelangat, a Principal Document Examiner and Acting Deputy Director of Forensic Services at the Uganda Police Force, appears in court on October 5 for cross-examination. She is one of six witnesses scheduled for cross-examination.
Akena, who contested as an independent candidate in the January 2026 general elections after losing in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries, placed second with 7,602 votes against Adum’s winning tally of 9,024 votes. He subsequently filed the petition seeking to annul Adum’s victory over alleged electoral non-compliance-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
