By KT Reporter
The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Arua has dismissed with costs a petition challenging the election of Ismail Drabe as LC5 Chairperson of Madi Okollo District, ruling that it lacks jurisdiction to hear such a case.
The petition was filed by Bruno Onzima, an independent candidate who came second in the January 22 Local Government Five elections, narrowly losing to Drabe, the incumbent and National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer, by just nine votes.
According to the official tally, Drabe garnered 16,040 votes, while Onzima obtained 16,031. Onzima petitioned the court seeking a recount of votes at Lionga Primary School polling station, alleging vote alteration during tallying.
He claimed that his 142 votes were erroneously recorded as 42, while Drabe’s votes at the same polling station were allegedly changed from 76 to 176. Represented by Erinato Kania of Kania and Company Advocates, Onzima filed the petition on January 27, asking the court to restore what he said were 100 lost votes and declare him the winner of the election.
The petitioner also presented two declaration forms bearing different results, which he said were recovered from the ballot box whose seal had allegedly been tampered with during the tallying process. However, after a two-hour hearing on Friday morning and a ruling delivered later in the afternoon, Chief Magistrate Conrad Obol Oroya upheld preliminary objections raised by Drabe’s lawyer, Richard Bindu.
The court ruled that it does not have the legal mandate to hear or determine petitions relating to the LC5 chairperson elections.
In his ruling, Oroya held that the Magistrate’s Court only has jurisdiction over petitions involving councillors below the LC5 level and lacks authority to order recounts in presidential, parliamentary, or LC5 chairperson elections.
The petition was consequently dismissed with costs awarded to the respondents, Ismail Drabe and the Electoral Commission, which was represented by Counsel Mohammad Balaam.
Reacting to the ruling, Bindu welcomed the decision, saying the court had correctly interpreted the law and that his legal team acted promptly to protect his client’s victory.
Onzima, however, said he would appeal the ruling at the High Court, insisting that his case is genuine and that the Magistrate’s Court rightly acknowledged it lacked jurisdiction to resolve the matter.
Three candidates initially contested for the Madi Okollo LC5 seat, including Antesi Asedri, an independent candidate who withdrew at the last minute, leaving Drabe and Onzima as the main contenders.
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