Uganda's Museveni wins seventh term as observers denounce intimidation
AFP
18 Jan 2026 09:42 AM । Update: 18 Jan 2026 09:43 AM
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a seventh term in office on Saturday after an election marred by violence and an internet shutdown, with African observers saying arrests and abductions had "instilled fear".
His victory allows the former guerrilla fighter to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country.
He defeated Bobi Wine, 43, a former singer who styles himself the "ghetto president" after the Kampala slum areas where he grew up, but has faced relentless pressure including multiple arrests before his first run for the presidency in 2021.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, won 24.72 percent. He stated his "complete rejection of the fake results" and said he was in hiding after a raid by security forces on his home.
"I know that these criminals are looking for me everywhere and I am trying my best to keep safe," he posted on X.
Police denied there had been any raid and said Wine was still at home, though they said there was a deployment around his residence.
"We have not necessarily denied people accessing him but we cannot tolerate instances where people use his residence to gather and... incite violence," police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke told reporters.
There were major security deployments around the capital Kampala, AFP journalists saw, as Uganda sought to prevent the sort of protests that have hit neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania in recent months.
- 'A lot of fear' -
Many Ugandans still praise Museveni as the man who ended the country's post-independence chaos and oversaw rapid economic growth, even if much was lost to a relentless string of massive corruption scandals.
"I'm really very happy to see he's won," said Isaac Kamba, a 37-year-old teacher at a pro-government rally in a Kampala cricket ground.
"The victory comes because of his hard work, dedication and commitment to the people of Uganda," he said, though the mood at the rally was less than jubilant, with a presenter at one point ordering the crowd to be more animated if they wanted the free food.
A spokesman for Wine's party, the National Unity Platform, told AFP the results were "a sham".
Wine has alleged "massive ballot stuffing" and attacks on his officials under cover of an internet blackout that has been in place since Tuesday.
On Saturday evening, AFP reported that the internet had been restored.
African election observers said on Saturday they saw no evidence of ballot-stuffing but denounced "reports of intimidation, arrest and abductions" targeting the opposition and civil society.
This "instilled fear and eroded public trust in the electoral process", former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan told reporters in Kampala.
He was representing election observers from the African Union, as well as regional bodies COMESA and IGAD for east and southern Africa.
Jonathan said the shutdown of the internet "disrupted effective observation" and "increased suspicion" but that the overall conduct of the polls on election day was "peaceful".
A senior security official in the president's office, Fred Bamwine, defended the security measures, telling AFP: "We don't take anything granted. It's our responsibility to make sure... the state of Uganda stays standing."
- Reports of violence -
Museveni's ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, also had a commanding lead in parliamentary seats, according to provisional results. Ballots were still being counted.
Analysts have long viewed the election as a formality.
Museveni, who seized power in 1986, has total control over the state and security apparatus, and has ruthlessly crushed any challenger during his rule.
The other major opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, who ran four times against Museveni, was abducted in Kenya in 2024 and brought back to a military court in Uganda for a treason trial that is ongoing.
There were reports of election-related violence against the opposition.
Muwanga Kivumbi, member of parliament for Wine's party in the Butambala area of central Uganda, told AFP's Nairobi office by phone that security forces had killed 10 of his campaign agents after storming his home on Thursday.
Police gave a different account, saying an "unspecified number" of people had been "put out of action" when opposition members planned to overrun and burn down a local tally centre and police station.
