Security officials were this morning forced to intervene after the Secretary General of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Mr. Nathan Nandala Mafabi, punched Dodoth East MP Samson Lokeris during the Kaabong district Woman parliamentary by-election.
Mr Mafabi is in Kaboong to observe the voting exercise on behalf of the party candidate, Adyaka Judith Nalibe, who is taking on NRM’s Christine Tubo Nakwang.
However, trouble started when Mr Lokeris reportedly urged voters to ask Nandala for money, since he was in the area to distribute money. In response, Nandala accused Lokeris and other Karamoja MPs for concentrating on eating food in the parliamentary canteen, forgetting to address the issues affecting the people of Karamoja.
“Let me tell you the people of Kaabong and Karamoja at large; your MPs of Karamoja do not mind about you, go and do research and see how many times Karamoja MPs have spoken on the floor of parliament, you will see they are not there but when it comes to food they are the first to eat, even when the debate is going on the floor of parliament,” he said.
At this moment, Nandala punched Lokeris at the stomach. However before the two legislators could start fighting, they were separated by the security officials led by the Resident District Commissioner, Mr. Achia Rex.
The two legislators then made up. The Kaabong seat fell vacant after Ms. Lily Akello, who was representing the district resigned her position to represent the women in the newly created Karenga district, which became effective in July 1, 2019.
Ms Nalibe recently wrote to Electoral Commission withdrawing her candidature from the race despite her party’s insistence that she was duly fronted by the party. They immediately wrote to EC rejecting her withdrawal.
