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Longtime Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni clearly has a lead in the presidential race after Thursday’s vote, according to preliminary results.
The country’s election commission has rejected allegations of vote rigging made by opposition candidate Bobi Wine, a former pop star.
But election observers say confidence in the count has been compromised by a three-day internet blackout.
Final results are expected to be confirmed on Saturday.
Dozens of people have been killed in violence ahead of the elections. Opposition politicians have also accused the government of harassment.
President Museveni, in power for 35 years, is hoping for a sixth term.
The 76-year-old says he stands for stability. Meanwhile, Bobi Wine – the stage name of Robert Kyagulanyi, 38 – says he represents the younger generation in one of the youngest countries in the world, where the median age is 16.
As the results arrived on Friday, Bobi Wine said Ugandan soldiers surrounded and entered his home.
“None of these military intruders are talking to us,” he said on Twitter. “We have serious problems.”
But a government spokesperson accused him of “dramatizing” the incident “to seek sympathy.”
“Bobi Wine is a very important person at the moment. It is the duty of the Ugandan state to guarantee its safety, ”Don Wanyama said.
What are the latest results?
Based on provisional results from two-thirds of polling stations, Mr Museveni has so far won 62% of the vote against 30% for Bobi Wine, the electoral commission said.
Election commission chief Simon Byabakama said the vote was peaceful and called on Bobi Wine, who said some of his election officials had been arrested on Thursday, to release evidence of his fraud allegations.
The opposition candidate believes the Internet shutdown is being used to block communication and as a means of compromising the vote.
Besides not being able to connect, people have a hard time texting.
“Several of our phone numbers, including mine and my wife’s, have been turned off, got disconnected illegally,” Bobi Wine said, according to Reuters news agency.
“I will be happy to share the videos of all frauds and irregularities as soon as the Internet is restored.
The electoral commission says only two polling stations in the country reported major irregularities and that the vote was canceled in those localities.
Mr Wanyama, who is a spokesperson for President Museveni, also hit back at Bobbi Wine’s vote-rigging allegations.
“He did not live up to the expectations of Ugandans,” he said, speaking to the BBC. “He had no message and the Ugandans told him he had to wait a little longer.”
Mr Wanyama added, “We have challenged him to provide proof of his claims, he does not have a single iota of evidence.”
BBC correspondents say security is tight in the capital, Kampala, with soldiers and police patrolling the streets.
The EU, the United Nations and several rights groups have already expressed concerns about the integrity of the elections in Uganda.
But apart from an African Union mission, there is currently no major international group monitoring the vote. Earlier this week, the United States – a major aid donor to Uganda – called off its diplomatic observation mission to the country, saying the majority of its staff had been denied permission to monitor voting sites.
How serious was the violence during the campaign?
Violence reached an unprecedented level in the rise of the race, and dozens of people died in the crackdown by security forces.
The government says the ban on gatherings was aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus while the opposition says it was a smokescreen for the crackdown.
Bobi Wine and other opposition candidates have been arrested on several occasions, and in protests following an arrest in November more than 50 people were killed.
Who is Yoweri Museveni?
Mr. Museveni, who came to power following an armed uprising in 1986, is the head of the National Resistance Movement (NRM).
He has long been portrayed to Ugandans as a liberator and a bearer of peace.
But he has managed to maintain his grip on power through a mixture of encouragement of a personality cult, favoritism, compromise of independent institutions and sidelining of opponents, says Patience Atuhaire of the BBC.
Who is Bobi Wine?
Bobi Wine is widely believed to be the strongest of the 10 opposition presidential candidates.
The reggae star is known by his followers as the president of the ghetto.
His party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), campaigns for basic needs like improving access to health care, education, clean water and justice.
Over the past two decades, Bobi Wine’s musical production has been filled with songs on these issues and they have inspired a devout audience.
He grew up in the Kamwokya slum in Kampala where he later built his now world famous recording studio.
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