Uganda votes in tense election under Internet blackout
KAMPALA: Ugandans lined up to vote in a tense election Thursday under heavy security and an Internet blackout as veteran leader Yoweri Museveni seeks a sixth term against a former pop star half his age.
The Internet went down on the eve of the vote, with some parts of the country reporting complete disruptions or significant slowdowns, after one of the most violent campaigns in years.
Museveni is seeking a sixth term in office, having ruled for almost four decades, against singer-turned-MP Bobi Wine, 38, whose popularity among a youthful population has rattled the former rebel leader.
Wine said several of his party’s polling agents had been arrested during the morning, as he cast his vote alongside his wife Barbie, to a crowd of dancing and singing supporters.
“In 22 districts out teams are on the run because they are being surrounded and pursued by police and soldiers as if they are criminals,” he said.
In Kampala’s Kamwokya slum, where Wine grew up and is hugely popular, voters streamed to a polling station as police enforced social distancing after weeks of surging coronavirus cases in the East African nation.
A group of about two dozen riot officers marched past, with heavy military and police presence in other parts of the capital.
“I am here to change the leadership of this nation because for years they’ve been telling me they will secure my future. They have not done that,” said driver Joseph Nsuduga, 30, one of the first in line to vote.
Some 18 million voters are registered for the presidential and parliamentary vote, and results are expected by Saturday.
“We know that Ugandans have turned out in large numbers to cast their vote. I continue to encourage all Ugandans to turn out and vote,” Wine said.
He has vowed non-violent street protests should Ugandans feel the election was stolen, and urged them this week to ‘stay and protect your vote’, using their phone cameras.
Museveni has warned that using violence to protest the result would amount to ‘treason’. — AFP