Ugandans began voting Thursday in a highly charged election as long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni seeks a seventh term against main challenger Bobi Wine, with the head of the electoral commission revealing he has received direct threats against declaring opposition candidates victorious.
Simon Byabakama, chairman of the Electoral Commission, said senior state officials had warned him not to announce certain presidential results, in an apparent reference to opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine.
“I am not in the business of donating votes,” Byabakama told reporters at the commission’s headquarters in Kampala. “Fear is a word that does not exist in my vocabulary.”
His remarks come after a viral video in which presidential assistant Yiga Kisakyamukama declared that Museveni would never relinquish power through the ballot and that Byabakama would never announce Bobi Wine as president — “even if he wins.”
Byabakama dismissed the threats as coming from “idle people” and insisted only the voters and the law would decide the outcome.
“The candidate who gets more than 50% plus one of the valid votes cast will be declared president,” he said. “What the voters say is what I will announce to the nation.” He pledged to release results within 48 hours of polls closing.
The 81-year-old Museveni, in power since 1986, faces his toughest challenge from the 43-year-old singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who came second in the controversial 2021 election. Six other candidates are also running, with more than 21.6 million voters registered.
The campaign has been marred by the disruption of opposition rallies, arrests of activists and heavy police intervention. A heavy military presence on the streets and reports of polling stations inside military barracks — which the commission says it is investigating — have deepened fears of voter intimidation.
On Tuesday, authorities imposed a near-total internet shutdown and restricted mobile money services, citing the need to curb misinformation and electoral fraud. The United Nations human rights office described the move as “deeply worrying” and warned it fuels concerns of growing repression.
As Ugandans go to the poll, the vote will determine whether Museveni extends his four-decade grip on power or whether voters deliver a historic shift in Uganda’s leadership.
