The current president of Uganda and candidate for his own succession, Yoweri Museveni, 81 years old and in power since 1986, leads the vote count with 75% of the votes and 59% of the electoral colleges counted. His main rival, 43-year-old, who has denounced electoral fraud and, according to his party, is under “de facto house arrest,” obtains 21% of the ballots. The elections took place in a climate of “repression and intimidation,” the United Nations said, with the internet cut off, numerous biometric system failures and hundreds of Wine supporters detained in recent days. The authorities have confirmed that at least seven people have died in tonight’s riots in different parts of the country, while the opposition raises the number to ten.
Museveni, who after 40 years in office is seeking a seventh term, was convinced of his victory “by 80% of the votes” after having cast his ballot, Reuters reports. “I know that some people in the opposition are trying to cheat. But this time we will be very vigilant. Even if the machines have not worked well we have put other measures in place and we will follow things closely,” said the Ugandan leader.
Museveni himself had trouble getting his fingerprints recognized until he was finally able to enter his ballot thanks to facial recognition, a widespread problem across the country, authorities admitted. Thousands of people were unable to vote, the opposition said.
The main opposition party, National Unity Platform (NUP), that military and police have surrounded the house of Wine, a popular singer in his country whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, in what amounts to a de facto house arrest for both him and his wife. “The security agents illegally jumped over the perimeter fence and are now setting up tents inside the compound,” the NUP said.
Wine himself had warned that the security forces were repressing members of his party at the polling stations. The opposition leader, who could be seen at campaign rallies wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest, asked his followers to take to the streets to protest.
Riots and clashes between protesters and police have occurred in different parts of the country throughout this night, especially in Butambala, 55 kilometers from the capital, Kampala. Authorities have acknowledged that at least seven people have died and 25 have been arrested. Police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe has accused opposition groups of “attacking a police station and a voting centre”, to which the officers responded with shots “in self-defence”. For his part, Muwanga Kivumbi, opposition candidate for parliament, has denied these claims and told Reuters that “10 people were killed in his house while they were waiting for the count to celebrate their victory.”
Numerous entities had warned of possible massive fraud in these elections. The Pan-African Solidarity Network, which brings together African civil society groups, urged on Wednesday the “global rejection” of the results because “Uganda’s political environment is far from meeting internationally recognized standards for free, fair and credible elections,” said Mwanase Ahmed, coordinator of this platform, in a statement. “What is unfolding is a state-sponsored campaign of repression, designed to subvert the will of the Ugandan people,” the activist insisted.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also warned in a recent climate report of “widespread repression and intimidation against political opposition, human rights defenders, journalists and those with dissenting views.” The Ugandan authorities have detained around 750 opponents during the campaign and, according to the UN, have put all kinds of impediments to the opposition’s electoral events.
Uganda, a country of about 50 million inhabitants located in the African Great Lakes region, has been under the command of dictator Museveni for 40 years, who came to power as a guerrilla leader after overthrowing General Tito Okello by force. Despite having harshly repressed all types of opposition, criticism against his management has been increasing. , won with 58.6% of the votes. However, the elections were marked by violations of the right to vote and numerous irregularities, such as stuffing of ballot boxes in at least 400 polling stations in which Museveni won with 100% of the votes.
Since the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in 1994, Uganda has been embroiled in . First as an ally of Kigali and then as a rival, Uganda has intervened on different occasions in the DRC, the last of them in 2025 in response to the advance of the M23 rebel group supported by Rwanda and the taking of the cities of Goma and Bukavu. However, Ugandan forces have been present in the Congo for five years to support the Army of this country in the fight against rebel groups. Furthermore, in recent years, both Uganda and the DRC have faced the emergence of the jihadist group Allied Democratic Forces, linked to the Islamic State.
