Uganda’s president leads in tense election marred by internet shutdown and voting interference

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for 40 years, had an early lead Friday in a tense presidential election marred by an internet shutdown, voting delays and opposition allegations of “massive ballot stuffing” and detentions by security forces.

Provisional results from half of the polling stations tallied so far showed Museveni with more than 70% of the vote while his main challenger, opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, was said to have 19%.

The 81-year-old Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Wine, who is calling for political change, said he was unable to leave his house to vote in Thursday’s election and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before the voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine was hoping to end Museveni’s four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside Wine’s house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

“He is a person of interest. He is a contestant,” police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke told local broadcaster NBS, suggesting heavy security deployment around Wine’s home was for his own security.

The security forces were also a constant presence throughout the election campaign, and Wine said authorities followed him and harassed his supporters, using tear gas against them. He campaigned in a flak jacket and helmet due to his security fears.

Wine wrote Thursday on X that a senior official in his party in charge of Uganda’s western region had been arrested. He charged that there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results then. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule in 1962.