By Entebbe Post
There is growing fear among the relatives of Mr. Walter Andrew Obore Okerenyang, a public official previously attached to the Electoral Commission and who has faced harassment, torture, threats and intimidation from several state security institutions over his unrelenting quest for governance and electoral reforms.
According to information from our reliable sources, Okerenyang was slightly before the national general elections in 2021 arrested, held incommunicado and subjected to torture for several days. Following that ordeal which was intended to suppress him, he chose to abandon his government role and has been discreetly but vigorously engaging in the push for governance and electoral forms at grass root levels. The security apparatus which got to learn of his discreet activities and have been on his trail to counter his activities that they consider to be intolerable.
Okerenyang, is currently being hunted by the Uganda Police and sister security agencies over what are considered to be politically related cases.
The hunt for Okerenyang has intensified recently after his growing vocal stance in civil society advocacy groups on the need for electoral reforms which he voices are urgently required in this country and in conformity with the 2016 post-election petition court ruling that highlighted the need for electoral reforms.
Okerenyang, until prior to the 2021 presidential elections, was an active public official within the Information Technology department at the Electoral Commission but despite this he was staunchly championing for regime change and electoral reforms, a matter considered to be inconsequential by other Ugandan Electoral Commission officials. This is what got him into trouble with security agencies who in this country can and have been used to criminalize and suppress views that are not aligned to the ruling regime.
It should be noted that in 2016, the Supreme Court, led by then Chief Justice – Bart. M. Katureebe, directed that the country ought to have grand electoral reforms that would bridge gaps within the country’s electoral systems.
In light of the security agencies quest to arrest Okerenyang, security operatives have chosen to mount impromptu road blocks on the road leading to his home and are continuously mounting intensive surveillance around his home in Kayunga causing fear to his family.
Security sources close to this website intimated that Okerenyang who can not to be traced at the moment may have fled the country. However, it is not clear where he has fled to. “We are living in fear of being arrested by the many security officers who are tracking movements around our home,” one of the relatives told this website.
It has also been established that Okerenyang’s wife, Mrs. Winfred Stella Amanya is distressed by the security presence around their home and in fear of being arrested by the security officers.
A source highly close to the family told this website that she (Amanya) now limits her phone communications and unnecessarily moving in public spaces on grounds that their family is being aggressively monitored to aid in the search into the whereabouts of her husband.
The Deputy Police Spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan Area, Luke Oyowesigire told this website that ‘’investigations are being undertaken on the same to ensure that those engaged in the destabilization of the country are arrested and prosecuted.”
