Kampala –
Uganda was on edge as polls opened Thursday, with President Yoweri Museveni expected to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet shutdown and a police crackdown on the opposition.
The local Daily Monitor newspaper ran a full-page spread on how to “election-proof your home,” advising citizens to reinforce doors and windows and designate a safe-room in case of unrest.
It is a familiar feeling for Ugandans after four decades of rule by Museveni, 81, a former bush fighter steeped in the ideology of revolutionary violence, whose tenure has been marked by accusations of rampant security-force abuses against his opponents.