{"id":24773,"date":"2026-01-15T10:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/24773\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T10:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:39:09","slug":"ugandan-election-2026-yoweri-museveni-faces-bobi-wine-in-uganda-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/24773\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugandan election 2026: Yoweri Museveni faces Bobi Wine in Uganda presidential election"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Voter<\/p>\n

Wia dis foto come from, AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wetin we call dis foto, More dan 21 million Ugandans register to voteArticle InformationAuthor, Sammy Awami, Role, BBC Africa, Reporting from, Kampala, <\/p>\n

39 minutes wey don pass<\/p>\n

Read am in 5 mins<\/p>\n

Polls don start for Uganda presidential and parliamentary election, though widespread logistical delays dey interrupt voting across di kontri plus di internet shutdown.<\/p>\n

By 8am local time (05:00 GMT), BBC observe say tins neva begin waka for five polling stations for di capital Kampala, one hour after voting suppose don start.<\/p>\n

Dem say na failure of di biometric identification kits dey cause am, some say na sake of di network outage.<\/p>\n

For di presidential race Yoweri Museveni wey dey 81 years and don rule di kontri for four decades dey seek election for him seventh successive victory as e dey face charismatic pop star.<\/p>\n

Kontinu to dey read\"Ugandan<\/p>\n

Wia dis foto come from, Reuters<\/p>\n

Wetin we call dis foto, Voters for parts of di capital, Kampala, see say. some polling stations still neva open one hour after voting suppose don start<\/p>\n

For places wia voting don start, reports dey comot say biometric machines wey dem dey use do voter identification still dey malfunction for some areas.<\/p>\n

“Some biometric machines no dey work. I no know weda na di internet dey cause am” na wetin one ruling party agent tell AFP news Agency.<\/p>\n

Anoda tin wey follow dey cause delay na say polling materials and equipments no arrive some stations on time.<\/p>\n

“We arrive early for polling station, but bling equipments never arrive,” no so one voter tell Kampala TV station UBC.<\/p>\n

BBC reporter say di voters don dey gradually dey frustrated sake of prolonged delays for some polling stations and electoral officials neva tok anytin about am.<\/p>\n

Di problem dey affect both pro-govment and pro-opposition areas.<\/p>\n

Di race na between Museveni and singer turned politician Bobi Wine, but analysts say Di president fit extend him time for power as him bin don win six previous elections.<\/p>\n

Wine dey 43 years, im don promise to tackle corruption and impose sweeping reforms while Museveni say him be di only pesin wey fit guarantee stability and progress for di kontri.<\/p>\n

Di campaign season face plenti kasala as dem disrupt opposition activities. Dem accuse security forces say dem assault supporters of Bobi Wine.<\/p>\n

Police tok tok pesin Kituuma Rusoke dismiss di complaints, say na opposition pipo especially pipo from Bobi Wine party National Unity Party (NUP) dey cause di disruption.<\/p>\n

Dem bin suspend internet access ahead of voting day. Uganda Communications Commission say di blackout dey necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and incitement of violence. UN human rights office don condemn am say “e dey deeply worrying”.<\/p>\n

NUP don reject di explanation and accuse di regulator say im dey try stop opposition make dem no mobilize and share evidence of election fraud.<\/p>\n

Museveni wey be former guerrilla army leader don benefit from two constitutional amendments wey remove age limit, and allow him to continue dey run for office.<\/p>\n

Wine wey him real name na Robert Kyagulanyi loose to di president for di 2021 election. Di election join bodi say im get 35% of di votes dem cast while Museveni get 59%, although Wine dismiss di result say fraud happun.<\/p>\n

Museveni and Wine get six oda presidential candidates for dis year ballot papers. Voters go also choose new parliament wey get 353 seats.<\/p>\n

For plenti pipo wey dey vote on Thursday, di economy na dia main issue.<\/p>\n

Majority of di population dey under 30 and although di average income dey rise steadily, but enough jobs no dey for di young pipo wey dey look for work.<\/p>\n

\"Polling<\/p>\n

Wia dis foto come from, Reuters<\/p>\n

Wetin we call dis foto, Biometric machines for verification of voters identity dey malfunctioned for some areas<\/p>\n

Concerns plenti about infrastructure and access to quality education and healthcare.<\/p>\n

During campaign period, opposition supporters face escalating harassment including arrests on politically motivated charges according to di United Nations and Amnesty International.<\/p>\n

Security forces disrupt Bobi Wine rallies unlike dat of Museveni.<\/p>\n

Amnesty describe douse of tear gas, pepper spray, beatings and oda violent acts as “brutal campaign repression” ahead of di votes.<\/p>\n

Head of Uganda electoral body tell BBC say him don receive threats wey warn am make e no declare certain results.<\/p>\n

“Some pipo say if you no declare so and so as president, you go see. I tell dem say I no dey for business of donating votes,” na so Simon Byabakama tok. E vow say na only di voters go decide who win di election.<\/p>\n

Di 2012 elections also get him own violence, dem kill dozens of pipo wey protest, and security forces dey responsible for some of di deaths, na wetin BBC investigation find.<\/p>\n

Since Saturday security don dey high for Kampala wey be Uganda capital city.<\/p>\n

Officers dey match in formation and dey do patrols while dem station amputee cars for various locations.<\/p>\n

Some Kampala residents don travel to rural areas, say dem believe say e dey safer dia during election period.<\/p>\n

“Na sake of say Uganda election dey usually dey violent, I decide to re-register my polling centre to my home village,” na so ona man tell BBC. Im wish make we no mention him name.<\/p>\n

“I dey glad say I make di decision, as you can see now, heavy and intimidating security presence dey for di city. So as I go vote for my village, I go also stay away from security scare”.<\/p>\n

Polls go close by 4pm local time. (13:00 GMT) on Thursday, although any pesin wey don dey queue by dis time go dey allowed to vote.<\/p>\n

Electoral Commission say dem go announce di result of di presidential election by di same time on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Wedaeli Chibelushi<\/p>\n

\"BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wia dis foto come from, AFP via Getty Images Wetin we call dis foto, More dan 21 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[153],"class_list":{"0":"post-24773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uganda","8":"tag-uganda"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}