No less than seven Ugandan opposition supporters have been killed in a single day in disputed circumstances, as President Yoweri Museveni has taken a powerful lead in outcomes from Thursday’s presidential election.
The opposition say they have been attacked by safety forces within the house of an MP in Butambala, about 55km (35 miles) south-west of the capital, Kampala, whereas police blame the violence on the opposition.
Figures introduced by the electoral fee on Friday afternoon put Museveni in entrance with 75% of the votes, primarily based on returns from 60% of polling stations.
He’s adopted by opposition chief Bobi Wine on 21%.
His house in Kampala has been surrounded by safety forces “successfully inserting him and his spouse underneath home arrest”, Wine’s Nationwide Unity Platform (NUP) stated.
The web shutdown imposed earlier within the week means information of the violence is barely rising on Friday in Uganda.
Opposition MP Muwanga Kivumbi informed the AFP information company that troopers and police fired tear fuel after which dwell bullets at a whole lot of people that have been following early outcomes at his house.
“Ten have been killed inside my home,” he stated.
Human rights activist Agather Atuhaire confirmed this account to the Reuters information company.
Nonetheless, native police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe disputes this, sustaining police fired in self defence after a “a bunch of NUP goons” had attacked a police station and deliberate to overrun a tallying centre.
She informed Reuters they have been carrying machetes, axes and bins of matches and stated not less than seven individuals had been killed.
In the meantime, some native journalists say safety forces have blocked them from accessing the opposition chief’s house in Kampala’s Magere space.
“Safety officers have unlawfully jumped over the perimeter fence and are actually erecting tents inside his compound,” the NUP posted on X late on Thursday.
Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke informed native broadcaster NBS that as a presidential contestant, Wine was “an individual of curiosity”, including that the heavy safety deployment round his house was for his personal safety.
Following the 2021 election, during which he garnered 35% of the vote, Wine was confined to his house for a number of days by safety forces.
Electoral chief Simon Byabakama stated on Friday that the vote counting had not been affected by the web blackout imposed earlier within the week, because the fee was utilizing a “personal system” to transmit outcomes from districts to the nationwide tally centre.
Requested concerning the timing of the ultimate outcomes announcement, Byabakama stated: “We’re on target to announce the winner of the presidential election inside 48 hours. Earlier than 5 PM [14:00 GMT] tomorrow, we will have the ultimate outcomes.”
Ugandans voted in a tense nationwide election on Thursday after an typically violent marketing campaign, with President Museveni, 81, in search of a seventh time period in workplace.
Wine, a 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician, has alleged “huge” fraud in the course of the election, which was held underneath an web blackout. He didn’t present documentary proof and the authorities haven’t responded to his allegations.
Final week, the United Nation’s Human Rights Workplace stated that the election can be marked by “widespread repression and intimidation”.
Throughout Thursday’s vote, voting was delayed by as much as 4 hours in lots of polling stations across the nation as poll bins have been sluggish to reach and biometric machines, used to confirm voters’ identification, didn’t work correctly.
Some have linked the issues to the community outage.
Though there are different six candidates, the presidential ballot is basically a two-horse race between Museveni and Wine, however given the president has received the six earlier elections, analysts say he’s prone to additional prolong his time in energy.
Wine, who says he represents the youth in a rustic the place many of the inhabitants is aged underneath 30, has promised to sort out corruption and impose sweeping reforms, whereas Museveni argues he’s the only real guarantor of stability and progress within the nation.
The marketing campaign interval was marred by the disruption of opposition actions – safety forces have been accused of assaulting and detaining Wine’s supporters.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke dismissed these complaints, accusing opposition supporters of being disruptive.
Web entry was suspended on Tuesday, with Uganda’s Communications Fee saying the blackout was vital to forestall misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence – a transfer condemned by the UN human rights workplace as “deeply worrying”.
Wine, whose actual identify is Robert Kyagulanyi, had referred to as on his supporters to protest, if Thursday’s election outcomes have been manipulated.
Nonetheless, as of Friday morning, there have been no indicators of any demonstrations.
A Museveni victory would prolong the previous insurgent chief’s four-decade grip on energy. He’s broadly believed to favour his son, navy chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as his successor, although he denies grooming him for the position.
The ultimate presidential result’s anticipated be introduced by 16:00 native time (13:00 GMT) on Saturday, in response to the electoral fee.
Further reporting by Sammy Awami in Kampala