Uganda veteran leader Yoweri Museveni declared election winner



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Longtime Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was re-elected, according to election officials, amid accusations of vote rigging by his main rival Bobi Wine.

Mr Museveni won nearly 59% of the vote, with around 35% behind Mr Wine, the Election Commission said.

Mr Wine, a former pop star, has previously promised to provide evidence of fraud. The Election Commission denies that there was any rigging of votes in Thursday’s poll.

Poll monitors criticized the government’s shutdown of Internet access.

Saying it has undermined confidence. Mr Wine said he would provide evidence of fraud once the internet was restored.

Bobi Wine says he represents the younger generation

Dozens of people have been killed in violence ahead of the elections. Opposition politicians have also accused the government of harassment.

The result gives President Museveni a sixth term.

The 76-year-old – who has been in power since 1986 – says he represents stability in the country.

Meanwhile, Bobi Wine – the stage name of Robert Kyagulanyi, 38 – says he has the support of the youth of one of the youngest countries in the world, where the median age is 16.

As the results arrived on Friday, Mr Wine said Ugandan soldiers surrounded and entered his home.

But a government spokesperson accused him of “dramatizing” the incident “to seek sympathy.”

What are the latest election results?

“Election Commission declares Yoweri Museveni … elected President of the Republic of Uganda,” Election Commission Chairman Judge Simon Mugenyi Byabakama said on Saturday.

He said the turnout was 57% of the nearly 18 million registered voters.

Earlier, Mr Byabakama said the vote was peaceful and called on Bobi Wine, who said some of his polling officers were arrested on Thursday, to make public the 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.

“I will be happy to share the videos of all frauds and irregularities as soon as the Internet is restored,” said Bobi Wine.

Meanwhile, Mr Wanyama, who is a spokesperson for President Museveni, has hit back at the allegations of vote rigging by Bobi Wine.

“He did not meet the expectations of Ugandans,” he said in a previous interview with 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.”

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.

It was calm in Kampala on Friday morning, the day after the vote

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, was 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?

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 such as 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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