Uganda’s opposition said its leader Bobi Wine was under house arrest on Friday, after an election that also saw a member of parliament accuse security forces of killing 10 people at his home.
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country and has been accused of “brutal repression” of the opposition.
Uganda’s Electoral Commission said on Friday that Museveni was on 75.4 per cent to Wine’s 20.7 with close to 60 per cent of votes counted. Final results are expected on Saturday.
Authorities imposed an internet blackout during the election that was still in place on Friday.
Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as the main challenger to Museveni in recent years. The former singer styles himself the “ghetto president” after the slum areas of Kampala where he grew up.
“The military and police have surrounded the residence of President Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert, effectively placing him and his wife under house arrest,” his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), wrote on social media late on Thursday.