KAMPALA, Uganda — National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has called on Ugandans to disregard provisional election results announced by the Electoral Commission (EC), dismissing them as fraudulent.
The opposition leader accused EC chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama of misleading the country by releasing what he described as unverified figures that indicate President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) is on course to secure a seventh term in office.
“IGNORE the fake results being announced by Byabakama. He can’t tell anybody where those results are coming from,” Bobi Wine tweeted on Friday, January 16, adding that, “Our agents at the tally centre are asking him for the source of these results, and the regime enabler can’t say a thing. The PEOPLE OF UGANDA will have the final say on this nonsense.”
The statement came amid mounting tension following Thursday’s vote, which was conducted under an internet blackout and heavy security deployment across several parts of the country.
After casting his ballot at a polling station in the Magere neighbourhood of Kasangati Town, near Kampala, Bobi Wine largely went silent. The NUP later alleged that military personnel had surrounded his home shortly after voting closed.
Bobi Wine said he and his family had effectively been placed under house arrest, accusing security forces of storming his compound.
“These criminals even jumped over the fence and entered our compound. My house is still besieged – no one allowed to come in or go out.”
He accused President Museveni’s government of resorting to force not out of strength, but fear of public anger over years of alleged abuses.
According to Bobi Wine, violence had also been directed at senior opposition officials in the aftermath of the vote.
Also Read: Bobi Wine alleges ballot stuffing, arrests and intimidation during Uganda election
“And, last evening, they attacked our Deputy President for Buganda, Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi and killed ten of our supporters who were at his home. This, after they abducted our Deputy President, Western Region and attacked our Deputy President, Northern Region. The criminal regime in its evening, has gone insane. This insanity will have to be met with RESISTANCE.”
The allegations come as provisional results released by the EC show President Museveni leading with 6,003,657 votes from 35,491 of the 50,739 polling stations nationwide, representing 74.92% of the votes counted so far.
Bobi Wine, Museveni’s main challenger, is listed second with 1,709,474 votes, accounting for 21.33% of the ballots tallied to date.
Other candidates in the Ugandan presidential race include Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), who has garnered 157,111 votes, representing (1.96%) of the total counted ballots; Mugisha Gregory Muntu Oyera of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) with 44,367 votes (0.55%); Bulira Frank Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP) with 35,315 votes (0.44%); Kasibante Robert of the National Progressive Party (NPP) standing at 24,564 votes (0.31%); Munyagwa Mubarak Sserunga of the Change for a Meaningful Presidency (CMP) with 22,232 votes (0.28%); and Mabirizi Joseph of the Conservative Party (CP), who has received 16,813 votes, representing 0.21% of the total ballots tallied so far.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has yet to issue a detailed response to the opposition’s claims, while security agencies have not publicly commented on the alleged incidents at opposition leaders’ homes.
