Politics

Museveni declared winner in Uganda election, Wine claims fraud

By Pablo Moraga

Kampala, Jan 16 (efe-epa).- Uganda’s electoral commission on Saturday declared incumbent President Yoweri Museveni the winner of recent elections with 58.64% of the vote.

Robert Kyagulanyi, the musician turned politician better known by his stage name Bobi Wine, failed to force a run-off with just 34,83% of the count, according to officials.

Wine, popular among the country’s youth, on Friday, urged citizens to reject the result of the “most fraudulent election in the country’s history”.

Museveni, 76, has been in power since 1986 and leads the National Liberation Movement, which has its roots in the liberation movement that toppled dictator Idi Amin.

The incumbent president has landed his sixth consecutive term in office, according to the official count.

Voting in the election, which determines the presidency and the next parliament, took place on 14 January under an aura of intimidation and calm amid beefed up security and armoured cars patrolling the streets.

During a Friday morning news conference, Wine insisted that Ugandans had voted against dictatorship and for democracy and that he would fight for “the will of the people” through all possible legal avenues, including protest.

The president of the electoral commission, Simon Byabakama, said the burden of proof was on Wine.

Dozens of soldiers surrounded Wine’s residency on Friday evening just as he was due to give a second news conference.

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