By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Votes are being counted in parts of Uganda following a presidential and parliamentary elections on Thursday amid internet blackout and allegation of electoral fraud by the opposition.
“Massive ballot-stuffing reported everywhere,” main opposition candidate Bobi Wine said in a post on social media, without providing further details.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi further said “many” polling agents and supervisors belonging to his NUP party were “abducted, and others chased off polling stations”.
There were delays for up to four hours in some polling units, which was attributed to malfunctioning biometric machines used to verify voters’ identities.
Others have linked the problems to the network outage and lack of voting materials, and late arrival of equipment in some areas.
The electoral commission says anybody who joined the queue by 17:00 local time (14:00GMT) would be allowed to vote.
Earlier, the electoral apologised for the “technical glitches” and said officials were working to resolve them.
In the presidential race, Yoweri Museveni, 81, in power since 1986, is seeking a seventh successive victory as he faces a challenge from Bobi Wine, a charismatic 43-year-old pop star.
The result of the presidential vote will be announced by 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Saturday, the electoral commission has said.
Voting ended by 18:00 local time in the polling stations in the capital, Kampala, a BBC report says.
While voters turnout was not yet published, there are indications that some people may have gone home without voting.
However, others were determined to cast their ballots and there was widespread frustration at the problems in the morning.
“I’m angry because I have not voted up to now. We are meant to start at seven, but up to now [08:00] we haven’t started. The ballots papers are not even there, I don’t even know what to say,” BBC quoted a voter, Kaweesi Ismail as saying.
Election chief Simon Byabakama ordered the use of the national voters’ register where biometric machines failed to function.
The presidential poll is essentially a two-horse race between Museveni and Wine, but given the president has won the six previous elections, analysts say he is likely to further extend his time in power.
Wine has promised to tackle corruption and impose sweeping reforms, while Museveni argues he is the sole guarantor of stability and progress in the country.
