Uganda’s incumbent president, Yoweri Museveni, has taken a commanding early lead in the country’s presidential election, according to preliminary results released by the Electoral Commission. Tallies from nearly half of polling stations show Museveni, the candidate of the ruling National Resistance Movement, with 76.25 percent of the vote.
His main challenger, opposition leader and musician Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was credited with 19.85 percent, while the remaining votes were shared among six other candidates. Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, told reporters after voting that he expected to win with about 80 percent of the vote, a result that would give him a seventh term in office.
Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform said security forces had surrounded his home in Kampala, placing him under house arrest, a claim the police said they were not aware of. Wine has alleged widespread electoral fraud in polls held under an internet blackout, drawing criticism from international observers.
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The United Nations human rights office said the election took place in an environment of widespread repression and intimidation. Reports of violence emerged overnight in parts of the country, with conflicting accounts from human rights activists and police over deaths and injuries, as Uganda continues to await final results from the Electoral Commission.
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