Long-time leader, Yoweri Museveni, took an early lead in Uganda’s presidential election according to preliminary results on Friday, though his main rival, Bobi Wine, said there had been widespread fraud and his supporters had the right to protest, Reuters reports.
With 29.4% of votes from Thursday’s ballot counted, Museveni had won 1,852,263 votes, or 63.9%, while main opposition candidate Bobi Wine had 821,874 (28.4%), the electoral commission said just after 11 am.
The normally bustling capital Kampala was quiet on Friday, a holiday after Thursday’s poll, with most shops closed.
The election campaign was marred by deadly crackdowns by security forces on opposition candidates and their supporters.
Wine, a singer-turned-lawmaker who has galvanised young Ugandans with calls for political change, told a news conference he had video proof of voting fraud. “We are winning,” he said.
“We are putting every legal, every constitutional and every non-violent option on the table,” Wine said.
“I will be happy to share the videos of all the fraud and irregularities as soon as the internet is restored.”
