Opposition candidate Bobi Wine claims ‘massive ballot stuffing’ as Uganda goes to polls

Original article by Carlos Mureithi in Nairobi

Uganda’s most prominent opposition presidential candidate has accused the government of ballot stuffing and arresting and abducting his party’s officials during Thursday’s general election, which took place against against the backdrop of an internet shutdown.

The pop star turned politician Bobi Wine wrote on X: “Internet switched off. Massive ballot stuffing reported everywhere. Our leaders … arrested. Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations. RISE TO THE OCCASION AND REJECT THE CRIMINAL REGIME.”

Voting in the election, which is expected to result in President Yoweri Museveni extending his nearly four-decade grip on power, was delayed in many parts of the country because of technical and logistical issues.

Some polling stations in the capital, Kampala, and the eastern city of Jinja remained closed several hours after voting was supposed to start. According to local reports, in some instance ballot papers had not been delivered and biometric machines used to check voters’ identities were not working. Anxious crowds at polling stations spoke of their concerns about the delay.

David Lewis Rubongoya, the secretary general of Wine’s National Unity Platform, (NUP) said no voting took place in the morning across much of Kampala. “Everything they are doing is a sham and it is deliberate,” he said of the government.

Museveni acknowledged that even he had experienced challenges in voting and promised to investigate the matter.

In the run-up to the vote, security forces – over which Museveni has total control – frequently broke up Wine’s campaign events using teargas and gunshots and by bludgeoning his supporters. At least one person was killed and hundreds were arrested.

Civil society members were also arrested and rights groups suspended. On Tuesday, access to the internet was shut down and mobile phone services were limited.

Observers said the heightened repression could indicate that the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) was concerned about waning support. It has also prompted fears of a violent crackdown on dissent in the aftermath of the vote, as happened in neighbouring Tanzania after its election in October.

Museveni is seeking his seventh term. Most Ugandans have not lived under another president. Younger people in particular have connected with 43-year-old Wine and say they are concerned about their futures.

Museveni became Uganda’s ninth president in 1986 after leading rebels in a five-year civil war. He led the country to economic growth and democratic change after years of political decay by autocratic governments.

But hopes of enduring change dwindled amid accusations of corruption, authoritarianism, repression and curtailment of judicial independence. Critics have also condemned his extended stay in office, achieved by using tactics to lengthen his term indefinitely, including by twice changing the constitution.

Mwambutsya Ndebesa, a political historian, said: “[Wine’s] challenge has brought to the surface the character of the regime in terms of tolerating political alternatives or dissent. The political class is getting more and more politically polarised. And that threatens the stability of the country.”

In December, police detained Sarah Bireete, a rights activist and government critic who had raised concerns about discrepancies in the registry of voters. On Tuesday, the government ordered several rights groups that had denounced violations during the campaign to stop their work.

A report by the UN human rights office last week accused Ugandan authorities of using laws enacted or amended since 2021 to entrench repression and restrict rights before the election, which it said would take place in an environment marked by widespread repression and intimidation.

The government has said the actions of the security forces are in response to what it termed lawless conduct by opposition supporters. In a televised address on New Year’s Eve, Museveni advised security forces to use more teargas to break up the crowds of “the criminal opposition”.

Eron Kiiza, a human rights lawyer, said at a briefing last week: “Everything is done to frustrate and annoy,” referring to disruption of opposition events by security agencies. Kiiza was allegedly tortured and detained without trial last year while representing the jailed opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who has been in prison for 14 months over what critics say are politically motivated charges, and Besigye’s aide Hajj Obeid Lutale.

Museveni, 81, often credits NRM with bringing peace and development to Uganda. Under the slogan “protecting the gains”, he promised wealth and job creation and to grow the economy partly through value addition for agricultural exports and oil production, which is expected to start this year.

Festus Kezire, an NRM supporter in Serere district in eastern Uganda, said Museveni’s introduction of free primary and secondary education was one of the reasons he would vote for him. He said: “He has restored peace and stability in Uganda and this has helped end many years of civil strife.”

Wine’s manifesto promised “a complete reset of Uganda”, including by upholding human rights and ending corruption.

Florence Naluyiba, an NUP supporter in Wakiso district in central Uganda, said she would vote for Wine because “Uganda needs change”. “Our dream is to have a president who will prioritise social service delivery. Bobi Wine has taken the risk to stand up for Ugandans at the expense of his freedom,” she said.

Ndebesa, the historian, said the incumbent’s stranglehold on state power, resources and infrastructure gave him organisational advantages over Wine. “The winning [of Museveni] in Uganda is almost a given,” he said.

Observers are keen to see what the election will say about Museveni’s eventual succession. He has long been thought to be grooming his son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as his successor, although he has denied this.

Additional reporting by Samuel Okiror and Agence France-Presse