Ugandan president extends 30-year rule as doubts persist about election’s credibility

Yoweri Museveni, 71, has presided over strong economic growth but is accused at home and abroad of repression of dissent and failing to tackle rampant corruption in the nation of 37 million people

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Supporters of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni celebrate his election victory in Kampala, Uganda. International observers said the election lacked transparency and his main opponent, who was placed under house arrest, denounced the vote as a sham. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:41pm, 21 Feb 2016Updated: 2:41pm, 21 Feb 2016

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been elected to a fifth term, extending his 30-year rule over the East African nation in an election marked by opposition arrests and international concern over it credibility.

The former guerrilla commander won 60.75 per cent of Thursday’s vote. Opposition candidate Kizza Besigye was second with 35.37 per cent, Electoral Commission Chairman Badru Kiggundu said Saturday in the capital, Kampala.

Turnout in the presidential and legislative elections was 63.5 per cent, Kiggundu said. Voting took place in heavy security. Besigye is under house arrest after police stormed his party headquarters when he was accused of planning to announce his own vote tally, and some social media were blocked. The moves were criticised by the US and European Union.

“We have just witnessed what must be the most fraudulent electoral process in Uganda,” Besigye said in a statement, calling for an independent audit of the results.

Besigye, who had been detained three times last week, said he had been placed under house arrest. His home encircled by police in riot gear and media were barred from approaching it.

A police officer struggles to keep hold of a box containing voting materials, as excited voters surround him after waiting over 7 hours without being able to vote, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda on Thursday. Photo: AP

Museveni’s re-election indicates a trend in Africa, where a growing number of leaders are trying to extend their rule, in some cases amending their countries’ constitutions to do so. Museveni is one of the continent’s longest serving presidents, alongside Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.