Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in power for four decades, leads the provisional results of Thursday's presidential election, according to Simon Byabakama, chairman of the National Electoral Commission. "Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta, Museveni, received 5,148,845 votes, or 75.38% of the valid vote", Mr. Byabakama said.
Mr. Museveni's main opponent, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known as Bobi Wine, received 20.71% of the votes, the remaining ballots being distributed among six other candidates.
Benjamin Katana, representative of the National Unity Platform (NUP), denounced the lack of transparency of the vote: The way in which the results are presented raises more questions than answers. It is very important that the Electoral Commission provides the parties represented in the race with the results tables by district. This would allow us to compare what is presented here with what has been reported locally, as our questions have always been about data transmission. This clearly shows that there is a transparency problem. "
According to electoral rules, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the valid votes to be declared the winner. The President of the Commission specified that the vote took place in a "generally peaceful climate", despite a few isolated incidents, and called on the population to remain calm until the announcement of the final results, scheduled for Saturday.
Nearly 21.7 million Ugandans were called to the polls to elect their president as well as 353 deputies. The election day was marked by technical malfunctions, notably breakdowns on biometric validation kits, and by a climate of tension accentuated by Internet outages and the constant presence of security forces.
Bobi Wine, who is campaigning for political change, claimed his election officials in rural areas were kidnapped before voting began, compromising monitoring of potential fraud. The former music star hoped to end Museveni's four-decade rule amid a military deployment, led by the president's son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and increased security measures around his home in Kampala.
On Friday evening, Bobi Wine's party claimed that a military helicopter had taken him by force from his residence. Ugandan police denied the reports, with spokesman Kituuma Rusoke saying Wine was at his home and free to move around. Army spokesman Chris Magezi added that the rumors were aimed at inciting his supporters to violence. According to the NGO Amnesty International, more than 400 Wine supporters were arrested during the campaign, in a context of repression and intimidation widely denounced by international observers.
