KAMPALA — Ugandan security forces have beefed up patrolling in the capital Kampala and several districts as the country goes to a highly contested elections between incumbent Yoweri Museveni and popstar challenger Bobi Wine.
There was a steady calm on Thursday morning as citizens waited anxiously to go to polling stations and cast their ballots for the seat of president and members of parliament, Daily Monitor reports.
At polling stations, security officers, election observers, journalists and contestants reportedly gathered at the head office of Uganda’s Electoral Commission to witness the offloading of ballot boxes for 377 polling stations in Kampala.
“I think we are at 97 percent prepared so far because there are somethings we have not put right, like we have districts where polling materials have not arrived, which have now been received,” Sarah Bukirwa, the Elgon regional returning officer, in charge of 17 districts, told Monitor.
She added that they have so far trained and deployed polling officials at over 5,000 polling stations across the region.
Millions of Ugandans will Thursday cast their votes in the crucial presidential rematch between Wine and long-time authoritarian leader Museveni, who aims to prolong his nearly 40-year rule.
In their previous encounter at the polls in 2021, President Museveni, now 81, won by a landslide. Bobi Wine, a singer-turned-politician, finished a distant second.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, disputed the results, claiming they were rigged. The 44-year-old, who claims he has been beaten, tasered, and attacked with teargas while campaigning against Museveni, is now rarely seen in public without a flak jacket and helmet.
Museveni first came to power in 1986 – when Wine was just three. He secured the presidency following an armed uprising, and is now seeking a seventh consecutive term in office.
He has built his campaign around the motto “protecting the gains,” portraying a legacy of peace and stability during his four decades in power, and promised to lift Uganda – one of the world’s poorest countries – to a “high middle-income status” through investment in manufacturing and agriculture.
Museveni’s critics claim he has so-far held on to power by sidelining opponents.