Ugandaʼs incumbent President Yoweri Museveni is leading the election and is headed for a seventh consecutive term. With about 70% of the ballots counted, he has won 75% of the vote, while the opposition leader has been kidnapped.
This is reported by the BBC.
His main opponent, musician and politician Bobi Wine, won about 21% of the vote. Wine urged supporters not to accept the “fake results” — his party said the opposition leader was forcibly taken from his home in the capital, Kampala, and taken to an unknown destination.
According to the National Unity Platform party, a helicopter landed in the yard of Vineʼs house and he was taken away by uniformed men. Police said they had no information about such an incident.
The countryʼs internet was shut down on January 13. The Uganda Communications Commission explained the shutdown as a need to prevent misinformation, fraud, and incitement to violence.
Previously, Bobby Wine reported that he was under house arrest — his house was surrounded by security forces. The police explained this by "concerns for the candidateʼs safety". Journalists are not allowed inside the house.
The countryʼs security situation has worsened in the run-up to the elections. At least seven opposition supporters were killed in Butambala district, about 55 kilometers from Kampala, on the evening of January 15. Information about this was delayed due to the internet shutdown.
Waina MP Muwanga Kiwumbi said the military and police fired tear gas and then opened fire on people watching the vote count. Human rights activists confirmed this version. Police said they fired in self-defense, accusing opposition supporters of attacking the polling station.
The head of Ugandaʼs electoral commission said that the internet outage did not affect the vote count, and they promise to announce the final results within two days.
- Museveni (81) has been in power since 1986. His opponent Bobi Wine — a 43-year-old musician who positions himself as the voice of the youth — had already claimed fraud in the previous 2021 elections and was under house arrest for several days after the vote.
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