Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine has claimed victory in presidential elections, rejecting as a “joke” early results from the nation’s Electoral Commission that gave incumbent President Yoweri Museveni a wide lead.
The electoral commission had earlier announced that President Museveni, who is seeking a sixth term, led in Thursday’s vote with results in from 29 percent of polling stations. He has received 63 percent of ballots while Bobi Wine had 28 percent, the electoral body said.
According to the commission, this translated into 1.8 million votes so far for the President while Wine has more than 820,000. It noted 3 million votes so far, or 16% of registered voters. Final results are expected by Saturday, January 15.
Wine, the popular singer-turned-lawmaker alleges that the vote in the East African country was rigged saying, “Whatever is being declared is a total sham.
“We secured a comfortable victory. I am very confident that we defeated the dictator by far.” He added that he was considering “peaceful and nonviolent protests” over the declared results noting that “every legal option is on the table.”
“The people of Uganda voted massively for change of leadership from a dictatorship to a democratic government. But Mr. Museveni is trying to paint a picture that he is in the lead. What a joke!”
The electoral commission however said the burden is on Bobi Wine to prove his allegations. The opposition frontrunner said he would provide evidence of pre-ticked ballots and other irregularities once internet access in Uganda is restored.
Internet access remains cut in Uganda after the government ordered it on January 13, but the electoral commission asserted that it will have no effect on the process.
The Ugandan constitution permits candidates to challenge election results at the Supreme Court.
The election took place after one of the most violent campaigns in years, with harassment and arrests of the opposition leaders, attacks on the media and dozens of deaths.
Kampala was quiet and some businesses remained closed, while soldiers and police patrolled on foot the day after the election.
President Museveni, a former guerilla commander who came to power in 1986, changed the constitution in 2019 to allow him to run for a sixth five-year term.
Wine, who became an MP in 2017, has argued the long-serving leader could not offer the change that Uganda’s youth demand as the East African nation battles with high unemployment.
The US, EU, UN and global rights and democracy groups have raised concerns about the integrity and transparency of the election.
The opposition leader reported after the election that his polling agents and coordinators in at least 22 districts were being pursued by the military and police in contravention of electoral procedures.
“Our polling agents and our polling coordinators and polling assistants are on the run because they are being surrounded and being pursued by the police and the military as if they are criminals,” he told reporters.
The African Union (AU) was however granted permission to send monitors, along with an AU women’s group.
