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Bobi Wine – a singer-turned-politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi – came in second in the vote, according to the country’s electoral commission.
Wine said his team was considering all peaceful, non-violent and legal options to challenge the results, as fears of post-election unrest surface, following deadly violence in the months leading up to the vote.
“We are the real winners of this election and therefore what the election commission announced has nothing to do with the real election that took place,” Wine told CNN immediately after the announcement.
“I can call on all Ugandans to reject the announcement that was made by the electoral commission … to reject them with the contempt it deserves.”
The election commission said Museveni won in a landslide, with 58.64% of the nearly 10 million votes cast, while opposition Wine won 34.83% of the vote.
Wine said he had evidence of fraud and intimidation, but he did not provide details of such alleged evidence, saying his team would share it when lines of communication were restored. He had previously accused the electoral commission of vote rigging.
The internet in Uganda has been shut down for days by government order. Wine said he was struggling to get his hands on his management team after being placed under house arrest on Friday.
Museveni, 76, has been in power for more than three decades and, prior to this vote, outside observers believed he was unlikely to step down from his post.
Saturday’s results follow months of campaigning that have been marred by harsh state security responses to anti-Museveni protests, as well as arrests of members of civil society.
Dozens of people were killed in the months leading up to the vote, including 45 who died during protests in November alone, after Wine was arrested for allegedly violating Covid-19 restrictions.
“It is clear that the violence is not coming from the Ugandan people, the violence is coming from the police and the military,” Wine said, when asked if he was concerned that his call to dismiss the results would lead to violence.
Ugandans voted in Thursday’s poll amid the internet shutdown. In a speech on Tuesday, Museveni confirmed that his government had ordered internet providers to block Facebook and other social networks, accusing the platforms of “arrogance.” On the morning of polling day, the order was extended.
Wine had campaigned extensively on social media, with some mainstream media refusing to include him in their election coverage.
The internet outage raised questions about the integrity of the vote count and also meant that biometric machines failed to register ballots, forcing many polling stations to use voting and checks manuals.
There were reports of late delivery of voting material and insufficient material to many polling stations. Journalists who were on their way to Wine’s residence for a press conference were turned away by security forces before returning to his home. Many were also forced to leave the national election counting center, despite their accreditation.
Closed monitors
Before voting on Thursday, Wine spoke to the media and complained that the majority of his polling officers across the country were prevented from observing the election by police. Ugandan law guarantees that every candidate is allowed to be represented at polling stations.
He reiterated his calls for the United States and the European Union to hold Museveni and his government “accountable for free and fair elections”, accusing the leader of forcing the country “to hold elections in the past. ‘darkness’ with its Internet failure.
“The excessive use of force by law enforcement and security agencies has seriously tarnished this electoral process,” Borrell added.
Museveni told CNN on Tuesday that he “would accept the results” if he lost.
“If I lose a fair election, I will accept the results, of course, because Uganda is not my home,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“If the Ugandan people don’t want me to help them solve their problems, I will happily solve my personal problems”,
“ Besieged ” wine
Wine told CNN on Friday that his life was in danger because his home had been taken “under siege” by the military.
Wine said his phone was blocked and his internet connection was cut off for some time as security forces raided his home the day after the polls opened.
Appearing on NTV, Kampala Police spokesman Luke Owoyesigire said Wine was not under arrest.
“We just provided security in the area, nothing big,” he said.
Owoyesigire said state security was responding in an attempt to secure Wine’s residence and protect the candidate after two people were seen trying to gain access to the house by jumping the fence, adding that one of the people had been arrested.
But a CNN reporter near Wine’s residence said on Saturday there was still a heavy military presence around the complex, along with military helicopters and drones circling overhead.
Wine’s attorney, David Lewis Rubongoya, told CNN Wine is still under house arrest.
“The military doesn’t allow people to come in. They just read the results they want. This election was just rigorously rigged so blatantly,” he said.
“It is a sign of intimidation of the regime, but also they are very afraid of the people. They lost this election in a very bad way. Bobi Wine is such a unifying factor, so they fear that the people will is rising up, so that’s why they’re keeping him under some sort of house arrest. It’s illegal and unconstitutional. “
He added that the Wine team is looking at all legal options to challenge the results once they are all released.
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