President Yoweri Museveni has stablished a healthy lead over his rivals in the vote count following presidential and parliamentary elections on Thursday.
The electoral commission said on Friday that preliminary results suggest that Mr Museveni who is bidding for his seventh term in office had polled 75 percent representing 45 percent of polling stations nationwide.
Simon Byabakama the head of the electoral commission said the internet shutdown which was imposed 48 hours before the polls, had not affected the vote counting exercise.
He said electoral officials have been using an accessible system through which the results are transmitted from constituencies to the national collation hub.
Byabakama said the electoral commission shall have the final results with the winner by [14:00 GMT on Saturday.
43-year-old rapper-turned politician, Bobi Wine whose movements have been restricted to his home by Ugandan security personnel, is on 20 percent according to the same provisional results.
Wine’s National Unity Platform accused security officers of scaling the perimeter fence and set up tents within his compound.
However, Kituuma Rusoke a spokesman for the police claimed the presence of security personnel in the politician’s compound was for his own safety.
This was not the first time Wine was effectively put under house arrest. He was held incommuicado in his own home following the 2021 election.
There were four-hour delays to the opening of polling stations on Thursday with the situation caused by faulty biometric machines which are used to check the identities of voters. There were reports blaming it on the internet shutdown and the unavailability of voting materials, and equipment at some stations. The electoral commission had apologised.
21,681,491 were registered to vote in the general elections, an increase from 18.1 million prospective voters the last time Ugandans went to the polls in 2021.
48 hours before the polls, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) ordered a temporary shutdown of public internet access and selected mobile services starting at 6:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, citing security considerations linked to the electoral period, according to local media.
81-year-old Museveni, who is the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate has been in power since 1986.
WN/as/APA