Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has taken a strong lead in partial results from Thursday’s presidential election, the electoral commission says.
Figures announced on Friday morning put Museveni in front with 76% of the votes, based on returns from 45% of the country’s polling stations.
He is followed by opposition leader Bobi Wine with 20%.
Security forces have surrounded Wine’s home in the capital, Kampala, “effectively placing him and his wife under house arrest”, his party said.
[1/16, 12:25 PM] Justice Nwankwo: Security officers have unlawfully jumped over the perimeter fence and are now erecting tents within his compound,” the National Unity Platform (NUP) party posted on X late on Thursday.
Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke told local broadcaster NBS that as a presidential contestant, Wine was “a person of interest”, adding that the heavy security deployment around his home was for his own security.
Some local journalists said security forces had blocked them from accessing the opposition leader’s home in Kampala’s Magere area.
Following the 2021 election, in which he garnered 35% of the vote, Wine was confined to his home for several days by security forces.
Electoral chief Simon Byabakama said on Friday that the vote counting had not been affected by the internet blackout imposed earlier in the week, as the commission was using a “private system” to transmit results from districts to the national tally centre.
Asked about the timing of the final results announcement, Byabakama said: “We are on course to announce the winner of the presidential election within 48 hours. Before 5 PM [14:00 GMT] tomorrow, we shall have the final results.”
Ugandans voted in a tense national election on Thursday after an often violent campaign, with President Museveni, 81, seeking a seventh term in office.
Wine, a 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician, has alleged “massive” fraud during the election, which was held under an internet blackout. He did not provide documentary proof and the authorities have not responded to his allegations.
Last week, the United Nation’s Human Rights Office said that the election would be marked by “widespread repression and intimidation”.
