By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President Yoweri Museveni has taken a strong lead in results from Thursday’s presidential election in Uganda, amid allegations of overnight killing of opposition supporters in controversial circumstances.
The opposition says seven supporters were attacked by security forces in the home of an MP in Butambala, about 55km south-west of the capital, Kampala, but the police blamed the the opposition for the violence.
Figures released the electoral commission on Friday afternoon put Museveni ahead with 75% of the votes, from the 60% of polling units, while opposition leader Bobi Wine is trailing with 21%.
Wine’s home in Kampala has been surrounded by security forces “effectively placing him and his wife under house arrest”, his National Unity Platform (NUP) said.
The internet shutdown imposed earlier in the week means news of the violence is only emerging on Friday in Uganda.
Opposition MP Muwanga Kivumbi told the AFP news agency that soldiers and police fired tear gas and then live bullets at hundreds of people who were following early results at his home.
“Ten were killed inside my house,” he said.
Human rights activist Agather Atuhaire confirmed this account to the Reuters news agency.
A local police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe however disputes this, maintaining police fired in self defence after a “a group of NUP goons” had attacked a police station and planned to overrun a tallying centre.
Wine, a 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician, has alleged “massive” fraud during the election, which was held under an internet blackout. He did not provide documentary proof and the authorities have not responded to his allegations.
Last week, the United Nation’s Human Rights Office said that the election would be marked by “widespread repression and intimidation”.
During the election on Thursday, voting was delayed by up to four hours in many polling stations around the country as ballot boxes were slow to arrive and biometric machines, used to verify voters’ identity, did not work properly. Analysts have linked the problems to the network outage.
Although there are other six candidates, 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, who says he represents the youth in a country where most of the population is aged under 30, has promised to tackle corruption and impose sweeping reforms, while Museveni argues he is the sole guarantor of stability and progress in the country.
