Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has won a sixth term in office with 58.6 percent of the vote, in an election disputed by his main rival Bobi Wine who trailed with 34.8 percent, the electoral commission announced on Saturday.
“The electoral commission declares Yoweri Museveni… elected President of the Republic of Uganda,” said election commission chairman Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama.
Wine accused Museveni of fabricating the results and called the poll “the most fraudulent election in the history of Uganda”. He urged citizens to reject the results.
Wine, a singer-turned-lawmaker, also said his home in the capital, Kampala, was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and that the military was not allowing him to leave.
Museveni, 76 and in power for 35 years, campaigned for another term arguing his long experience in office makes him a good leader and promising to keep delivering stability and progress.
Wine, 38, galvanised young Ugandans with his calls for political change and pledged to end what he calls dictatorship and widespread corruption.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said on Friday he had video proof of voting fraud, and would share the videos as soon as internet connections were restored. The government ordered the internet shut down the day before the election, and the blackout was still in place.
Electoral Commission Chairman Simon Byabakama said on Friday that under Ugandan law, the burden of proof rested with Wine.