Paul Otuoma has said Governor
Sospeter Ojaamong can keep the Busia ODM ticket after troubled nominations that left him with the option of a repeat.
The Funyula MP maintained he will be on the ballot but did not name a party. Some reports say he will .
after Ojaamong was declared the winner of the primaries with
92,358 votes against Otuoma's 63,752.
Otuoma claimed the exercise was flawed and asked the party to cancel the results and schedule a repeat vote.
ODM nullified the results of the nomination with NEB chairperson Judy Pareno saying a scrutiny revealed flaws which can cause discord among supporters.
She said the vote would be repeated on April 25.
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Otuoma asked the people to make him their governor as the decision lies with them.
He said their will must be respected and upheld and asked God to help him protect their rights.
"The wishes of the
people
of Busia shall be
protected
at all costs...I will be on the ballot for the Busia ticket," he said.
The MP further told Busia residents
on Wednesday that the was not ready to divide party leader Raila Odinga's votes.
"Let it not go down in history that Otuoma divided ODM...Tafadhali patia [Ojaamong] mtoto tuone vile atamtunza... Sisi bado tunaweza zaa na bado atakuwa mtoto wa baba," he said.
"Sitaki kugawanya chama...sitaki kufanya kitu chochote kitakachofanya Raila akose kura. Mimi sitaki kitu amabacho kitaanza kuleta mvurutano Busia."
This loosely translates to: "Give Ojaamong the child so we can see the kind of care he will give. We can still give birth and the child will still belong to the father. I don't want to divide the party or do anything to cause Raila to lose votes. I don't want anything that will cause infighting in Busia.)
Otuoma added that he was part of the team that made ODM what it is today and told the Governor not to misrepresent the people's will.
"Mtu ndiye anayecommit crime, si community. Ojaamong ndiyo amecommit crime si watu wa Teso. Ojaamong must not misrepresent the people," he said.
(An individual, not the community, has committed the crime. Ojaamong has committed the crime, not the people of Teso.)
After the nominations,
Otuoma, who did not look disturbed by the results, addressed his supporters claiming the Governor had rigged.
He noted the number of registered votes in Teso was 38,000 and that more people than are in the IEBC register had voted.
"Where do you get 90,000 in two constituencies?" he asked.
"Hata ukiwa mwizi lazima ukuwe na akili na adabu (Even thieves are smart and respectful).
But he added: "Msiwe na hofu...wenye watoto wanajulikana (Don't fear. The children's owners are known)."
Provisional results indicated the legislator had been leading with 62,379 against Ojaamong's 39,874.