On March 29^th 2006, Aruu County MP Samuel Odonga Otto paraded two tots and their mom. This was to prove to fellow MP Ruth Nankabirwa who had earlier referred to him as a young boy, that he is a fully grown up man, with a wife and kids, hence a father and husband, not a boy.

The paraded kids were Anying Angela aka Anying Twiggy Angioleta, now 9yrs and Alimo Yata Nicole aka Olowang Nicole, 6. And the lady, their mother and then Otto’s wife is Dr. Grace Santa Acan. Now, seven years down the road, the Legislator has successfully secured an adoption order of the two kids, a notch his Ex and entire family have sworn not to swallow lying down.

According to the affidavit sworn on March 15^th 2012, Odonga states that the children belong to his brother Alieri Der, who was captured by Kony rebels in 2006 and never featured again, and that since then, he has been fostering the children at his home in Kanyanya. Through tendered documents, most of them claimed to be forged; the Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court on June 11^th 2012 granted Otto the adoption order.

“We are totally surprised. We don’t know why he (Otto) has decided to get on record as the first ever father to adopt own kids. The entire family has decided not to allow this bad omen and we have already instructed our lawyers to proceed in objection,” Solomon James Ochola, Dr. Santa’s brother offered this afternoon.

As the conundrum still glares, some family members are curious that the MP could be doing all this to deny Acan’s children, hereditary rights to his property, especially now that he moved on and married another wife, Juliet Oyulu, the Ex model and city lawyer with whom, he has more kids.

The Story

Sometime early last year, Otto approached his Ex Acan at her home of Kisaasi and told her he wanted the kids to take them abroad. He even showed her their already processed passports. Confused of the abrupt development of which she had no prior clue, she hesitated as she made own investigations. Indeed, at around the same time, she was tipped off by a friend, about the adoption order issued by Court.

Confused, she confided in her brother Solomon and other family members who ably obtained all the documents adduced by Otto. “We realised that he declared one of the kids’ birth certificate as from Nakasero Hospital yet her birth was at Gulu Hospital. There is also an affidavit purportedly sworn by Dr. Grace, consenting to the adoption procedure but her signature is not only forged but far from her known one,” Solomon offers further.

Upon knowledge of their movements, Otto went back to court and swore another affidavit, maintaining his earlier status as a paternal Uncle to the lads. Dismayed Acan along with her family members went to Kibuli based Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate (CIID) for redress but with no much success. “They told us it involved a high-profile personality and could only be handled at Police Headquarters,” Solomon recalls.

Dismayed Acan then went to the headquarters from where Cops reportedly told her it was hard for police to start a case against the MP. “We resorted to face it off in Court and through our lawyers, affidavits have been sworn and filed,” confirmed Solomon. Indeed, documents on our Crime Desk prove the case order has been challenged already.   

The questionable documents

Otto based his petition on the claim that the children had been fathered by his ‘dead’ brother Alieri Der who had been ‘captured’ by the Kony rebels. He also submitted child birth certificates, purporting that the said Alieri Der had given birth to the said children. However, Otto’s documents are countered by Acan’s which indicate that she produced them from Nsambya hospital and Gulu Hospital respectively, with the legislator as the registered biological father.

The affidavit purportedly sworn by Acan in support of the adoption order has been refuted as forgery by the signatory. Before Court now, are two birth certificates for each child, those submitted by Otto and those for Acan. And a close look at all of them throws a glimpse of invalidity on Otto’s submissions.

Otto’s legal representatives in the matter are himself and the wife through Oyullu Odonga-Otto & Co. Advocates. And in any need of forgery, they are interested party who can easily fall to the temptation of securing one. Before us is Dr. Acan’s photocopies of her driving permit and employment identity card, onto which, her official signature appears. And indeed, even to an ordinary eye, it is not even near to a photocopy of the one on the said consent affidavit.  

The brief history

Family sources reveal that Acan and the legislator lived together in early 2000s as man and wife and the pair’s Bed-Minton games resulted into the two issues. The First Born came in 2003 and the second, jetted in on July 2^nd 2006.  However, after a few years, the two lovers fell out and Otto decided to marry his current wife Juliet Oyulu on April 16th, 2009. 

Otto has three children with Oyulu who include Rupee Favour, Lamoro Yumi Whitney Lamwaka and Israel Mwaka. Grace Acan is now a medical doctor working with St Benedict Medical Centre and lives in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb, as a single mother. She is of late; understandably very puzzled that the man she claims to be the biological father of her kids has instead opted to adopt them.  (More photos down)

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