Kumi County parliamentary aspirant Solomon Opio has officially filed a petition to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Election Disputes Tribunal, accusing Minister of Energy Sidronious Okaasai Opolot and 17 other individuals of orchestrating massive electoral fraud during the July 17 party primaries.
In his petition titled “Grave Electoral Malpractice in the NRM Parliamentary Primaries, Kumi County,” Opio expressed his “profound disappointment and heavy heart” over what he described as a deliberate and coordinated scheme to rig the vote against him.
The primaries, which saw Minister Okaasai declared winner, are now at the center of a political firestorm, with Opio alleging vote tampering, forgery, and voter intimidation at multiple polling stations across five sub-counties.
Opio’s petition lists five specific electoral offences: Gross alteration of results at tallying centers, Deliberate inflation of vote counts in favor of Minister Okaasai, Forgery of agent signatures on Declaration of Results (DR) forms, Deployment of soldiers to intimidate voters, whose origin and mandate remain unclear and Nullification of genuine results without any official justification.
“These acts were not isolated incidents, but coordinated efforts carried out under the watch, and in some cases, at the direction, of individuals within our own party,” Opio’s statement reads. “The integrity of the entire election process was compromised.”
He particularly singled out the NRM District Vice Chairperson Atyang Grace, whom he accused of actively facilitating irregularities, including allowing non-party members access to tallying centers and overseeing the announcement of tampered results.
According to Opio, the sub-counties most affected by the irregularities include: Ogooma Sub County, Ongino Sub County, Ongino Town Council, Tisai Sub County, and Atutur Sub County
“These areas saw the most egregious forms of malpractice, including ballot stuffing, misrepresentation of figures, and the outright replacement of DR forms,” Opio noted.
“In Ongino Town Council, for example, the declared votes sharply contradicted the figures recorded on the official forms.”
In a bold move, Opio in his Petition seen by TNN named 18 individuals he claims either participated in or enabled the fraud.
They included, Minister Okaasai Sidronious Opolot, Aupal Fred – Alleged campaign operative, Akodai James – Assistant RDC, Atyang Grace – NRM District Vice Chairperson, Aisu Sam – Registrar, Tisai, Ariko James – Registrar, Ongino Sub County, Grace (Registrar) – Ongino Town Council, Okalebo – Registrar, Atutur, and Ocom Levi – Registrar, Nyero Town Council & Assistant District Registrar and Omoding Sam – Registrar, Ogooma,
He also accused the GISO’s of the affected Sub Counties, Okiror Tabliq – NRM Chair, Atutur, Oluka Isaac – NRM Chair, Nyero Town Council, Okwii JP – NRM Chair, Ongino Town Council, Okello Juventine – NRM Chair, Ongino Town Council and Elungat Charles – NRM Chair, Tisai Sub County.
“These were not just acts of sabotage against me as a candidate,” Opio argued. “They were a direct assault on the democratic rights of the people of Kumi County and an insult to the values of our party.”
He has appealed to President Yoweri Museveni, intervene to address the crisis in Kumi.
“I implore President Museveni, as NRM National Chairman and President of the Republic, to take interest in this matter. Investigate the irregularities, hold the perpetrators accountable, and restore confidence among our voters,” the petition stated.
He warned that failure to act decisively would alienate party loyalists and fuel political disillusionment at the grassroots level.
Opio recounted that when he attempted to halt the declaration of doctored results, he was dismissed by election officials who told him bluntly to go and “petition later” and let them “do their work.”
“The Vice Chairperson and Ocom Levi took center stage in pushing these illegal results through. They knew what they were doing was wrong but had the audacity to tell me to go and file a petition,” Opio wrote.
Opio emphasized that his petition was not motivated by personal loss, but by a desire to uphold democratic values within the NRM.
“I am committed to exposing every bit of this injustice, not out of personal vendetta, but to defend the integrity of our party and the democratic rights of Kumi County voters.”
He called on fellow NRM members, civil society, and the media to monitor the tribunal proceedings and demand transparency in how the party addresses such serious allegations.
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PETITION THE BIGGER PICTURE
It’s unfortunate to witness and read accounts of the most grotesque vote theft, violence and thuggery in NRM primary polls across the country, not least here in Kumi.
But this was expected after all, what is NRM known for other than election theft, brutality and lack of democracy. This is what has kept Museveni and his corterie of nonchalant brutals in power for the last 40 years.
To petition him will not amount to anything because there’s no known respect for Constitutionalism, good governance and the rule of law under NRM. The very crooked ways; lies, bribery, patronage, threats and violence will be used to reward or silence the petitioners. NRM and it’s despots know not any other approach to the good governance of conflict resolution using fair scales of the law. The complainants might as well eat humble pie or risk being further ostracized and systemically eliminated.
Museveni and his NRM minions can only dig deeper levels of infamy and disgrace for the little time they have left at the helm of our country.
Amen.
#CharlesOngoleJohn
KUMI