Museveni leads early Uganda vote as conflicting accounts of post‑vote violence emerge

Veteran president Yoweri Museveni held a commanding lead in early presidential results announced on Friday in Uganda, as conflicting accounts emerged of violence after the vote. Preliminary tallies from the electoral commission, based on nearly half of polling stations, showed Museveni with 76.25% of the vote and his main challenger, Bobi Wine, on 19.85%, with the remainder split among six other candidates.

Museveni, 81, who has ruled since seizing power in 1986, said after voting he expected to win with 80% "if there's no cheating". The election was held under an internet blackout authorities said was needed to prevent "misinformation", and Wine alleged mass fraud and called on supporters to protest.

The UN human rights office said the vote was taking place amid "widespread repression and intimidation", and recent political violence in Tanzania and Kenya had heightened fears about unrest in Uganda. No protests were reported during voting hours, but violence was reported overnight in Butambala, about 35 miles (55km) south‑west of Kampala.

Gather Atuhaire, a human rights activist, said soldiers and police had killed at least 10 opposition supporters who had gathered at the house of parliamentarian Muwanga Kivumbi to follow early results, citing an account from Kivumbi's wife, Zahara Nampewo, that security forces fired teargas and then live bullets at people sheltering inside the compound.

Key Topics

World, Yoweri Museveni, Bobi Wine, National Unity Platform, Butambala, Muwanga Kivumbi