The ruling NRM party Electoral Commission chairman Dr. Tanga Odoi has said the son to the fallen Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah should automatically take up the seat and complete the remaining 3 years without necessarily passing through the ballot.
Oulanyah says so should be the sake in light of humanity and in the interest of saving time and resources to again run a byelection in Omoro. Recently, the Electoral Commission chairperson Paul Bukenya said at least UGX 600m had been set aside to conduct a byelection in the now vacant Omoro county seat.
Dr. Tanga says Oulanyah’s son should just inherit the seat just like the incumbent Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan took over from John Pombe Magufuli soon as he was laid to rest.
Omoro locals however dispute Tanga Odoi’s guidance saying an elective seat is not hereditary. Irene Akidi says, “We sympathise with the family but parliament is not a family business or a monarchy where succession is automatic. Let him campaign like other candidates and if the people think he can represent them then they’ll vote for him.”
Proponents of Odoi’s guidance say Andrew Oulanyah should take over on grounds that his deceased father injected a lot of money and resources in the Omoro campaigns. “This time round I concur with Dr. Tanga Odoi 100 percent. Jacob Oulanyah invested a lot of resources during the previous campaigns to get the seat. His political capital/mandate is still valid till 2026. Let Andrew go and complete the term,” opines Okello.
