Presidential election in Uganda: a leap into the unknown

The main opponent of the irremovable President Yoweri Museveni, and opposition candidate, Bobi Wine claimed this Friday the victory of the presidential election of the day before, without even waiting for the proclamation of the provisional results. However, according to the electoral commission, it is the current president who is in the lead. During a press conference in Kampala, where social networks are suspended and access to the Internet is severely disrupted, Bobi Wine “rejected” these first results, denouncing “a real masquerade” and claiming to have “largely won” President Museveni, who is running for a sixth term. “I am very confident, we have largely defeated the dictator. (…) We certainly won the election and we won it by a large margin, ”he declared, speaking to journalists in the garden of his house, on the outskirts of the capital. “Mr. Museveni is trying to make it look like he’s in the lead. What a joke, ”continued the former ragga singer. According to him, the ballot was marred by “illegalities from above, which Museveni and his bloodthirsty regime committed to prepare the worst rigging ever experienced by the country”.

A closed poll

As of Thursday shortly after midnight, Bobi Wine denounced for the first time on Twitter – and this in spite of the censorship – “of the widespread frauds” and called the electoral commission to “announce the will of the people”. The latter responded on Friday morning to these statements, asking him to “show the country how, how the results are rigged.” During his press conference, the 38-year-old MP said he had received thousands of irregularity reports, citing pre-filled ballots, voters who were influenced or who only received ballots for legislative elections and not for presidential elections, or still open and stuffed ballot boxes in some districts. He promised that his team would share “all the irregularities” when the internet was restored.

Arm wrestling

The 18 million Ugandan voters (out of a total population of 44 million) were called upon to decide between Bobi Wine, who at 38 became the main opposition candidate by surfing in particular on his popularity among the youth, and Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986. Friday morning, the usual intense traffic was sharply reduced in the streets of Kampala, where some businesses are closed and where soldiers and police patrol on foot, while the electoral commission began to publish the first results of the vote. They put the outgoing Museveni in the lead with 63.92% of the vote, against 28.36% for Mr. Wine. Patrick Amuriat, another opposition candidate, won 3.55% of the vote. None of the other eight candidates currently exceeds 1%. These results correspond to 29.44% of the polling stations (or some 10,212 out of a total of 34,600). Thursday evening, the president of the electoral commission, Simon Byabakama, estimated that this presidential and legislative ballot “generally took place in the calm in all the country”, which was also confirmed the spokesman of the police force, Fred Enanga. But Bobi Wine denounced “violence”.

A diplomat based in Kampala told Agencee France-Presse on Friday on condition of anonymity that isolated violence had taken place, as well as numerous irregularities, but that no sign of mass manipulation of the vote had been shown. found. Particularly violent, the electoral campaign was punctuated by riots and arrests – in particular of Bobi Wine – and was mourned by dozens of deaths. The United States, the European Union, the United Nations and rights organizations have expressed concern over the integrity and transparency of the election. Only one foreign organization, the African Union, sent observers. The United States, for their part, canceled the sending of an observation mission, due to the Ugandan authorities’ refusal to welcome many of its members. The results of the presidential election are expected “by Saturday” afternoon.