The presidential election in Uganda has taken a dramatic turn as the current president, Yoweri Museveni, places himself firmly in the lead with over half of the votes counted, and this indicates a possible victory that would enable him to rule for another decade.
The provisional numbers made public on Friday claim that Museveni has gotten about 70 percent of the votes that were counted, while his main opponent, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, is far behind—which has caused a great uproar and has aggravated the political situation in the country.
Live updates from local media sources reported that Museveni already had more than 4.7 million votes—approximately 70.8 percent of the total votes counted so far as counting continued late Friday night in different parts of the country. Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) was still under 30 percent, while the other candidates were sharing the rest of the votes.
The preliminary results paint a very clear picture of the political divisions in Uganda. The 81-year-old president, Museveni, who has ruled since 1986, is contesting for a seventh term and has the support of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), which mainly occupies the countryside and where he has built a very strong support base. Wine, a youthful and vibrant opposition figure who has strong support from the urban and young voters, has not been able to shrink the gap in the overall national results.
The election was marked by a lot of controversies. About that, the authorities imposed an internet blackout all over the country a few days before the elections and gave as a reason the concern about misinformation; they were also criticized by the right advocates who said that the security measures taken made the election less transparent. Besides that, delays and troubles with the verification technology happened on the day of the vote in some polling places.
The Wine’s camp has strongly rejected the outcome and claimed that there were irregularities like tampering with the ballots and the intimidation of polling agents, and also that the government was suppressing dissent until an official declaration was made.
While the numbers are still not complete, the early lead suggests that Museveni is going to win by a large margin. The final results will be announced within 48 hours after the elections close, but the early gain has already escalated tensions and attracted the world’s attention to Uganda’s election process.
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