Museveni takes strong lead in early results of Uganda presidential race
Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, is seeking a seventh successive victory [AFP via Getty Images]
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has taken a strong lead in provisional results from Thursday’s presidential election, the electoral agency says.
The results announced on Friday morning put Museveni in the lead with 76% of the votes, based on results from 45% of the country’s polling stations.
He is followed by opposition leader Bobi Wine with about 20%.
Ugandans voted in a tense national election on Thursday after an often violent campaign, with President Museveni, 81, seeking a seventh term in office.
Wine, a pop star-turned-politician, has alleged “massive” fraud during the election, which was held under an internet blackout. He did not provide documentary proof and the authorities have not responded to his allegations.
Late on Thursday, Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party said that the military and police had surrounded his house in the capital, Kampala, “effectively placing him and his wife under house arrest”.
“Security officers have unlawfully jumped over the perimeter fence and are now erecting tents within his compound,” the party posted on X. The authorities are yet to comment.
Following the 2021 election, in which he garnered 35% of the vote, Wine was confined to his home for several days by security forces.
During Thursday’s vote, voting was delayed by up to four hours in many polling stations around the country as ballot boxes were slow to arrive and biometric machines, used to verify voters’ identity, did not work properly.
Some have linked the problems to the network outage.
[Getty Images/BBC]
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