Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni wins seventh term in election marred by fraud claims
Museveni’s main rival, Bobi Wine, claimed there was ‘massive ballot stuffing’ and that his party’s polling agents were abducted
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won his seventh term with 71.65 per cent of votes, according to official results Saturday, in an election marred by an internet shutdown and fraud claims by his youthful challenger, who rejected the outcome and called for peaceful protests.
The musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine took 24.72 per cent of the vote, the final results showed. Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has condemned what he described as an unfair electoral process and alleged abductions of his polling agents. He said he had rejected the “fake results” and urged Ugandans to peacefully protest until the “rightful results are announced”.
Wine said he had to escape to avoid arrest by security forces who stormed his house on Friday night. His party said earlier he was forcefully taken away in an army helicopter, but police denied it.
Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said Wine was “not under arrest” and was free to leave his house, but there was “controlled access” for others trying to go into the property to prevent people from using the premises to incite violence.
Electoral officials face questions about the failure of biometric voter identification machines on Thursday, which caused delays in the start of voting in urban areas, including the capital, Kampala, which are opposition strongholds.
After the machines failed, in a blow to pro-democracy activists who have long demanded their use to curb rigging, polling officials used manual registers of voters. The failure of the machines is likely to be the basis for any legal challenges to the official result.