Yoweri Museveni has been declared the winner of the Uganda presidential election with 58.64% of the total votes, according to the country’s electoral commission.
The incumbent will now serve a sixth term as president of the East African nation following some of the worst pre-election violence since the 76-year-old took office in 1986.
His main opposition, singer Bobi Wine, has alleged vote-rigging throughout the process and had strong support in urban centres where frustration with unemployment and corruption remains high.
Mr. Wine and other opposition candidates were often harassed, and more than 50 people were killed when security forces halted riots in November after he was arrested.
Although Mr. Museveni holds on to power, at least 15 of his cabinet ministers including the vice president were voted out, with many losing to the candidate’s from Mr Wine’s party, according to local media.
Mr Wine, real name Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, claimed victory on Friday and said he had video evidence of vote-rigging and insisting “every legal option is on the table” to challenge the election results.
He was beaten up and arrested several times during the election campaign but was never convicted of any charge. He later wore a flak jacket and said he feared for his life.
Meanwhile, Ugandan politician and main rival in the just concluded presidential election, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine has alleged fraud and urged citizens to reject the result which saw the incumbent Yoweri Museveni the winner of the country’s presidential election.
Uganda’s Election Commission had on Saturday declared Museveni, thereby extending his 35-year rule.
“The electoral commission declares Yoweri Museveni … elected president of the Republic of Uganda,” said Chairman Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama.
Speaking to Al Jazeera shortly after, Bobi Wine’s representative Benjamin Katana rejected the results.
“What has been announced here is an attempt to undermine the will of the people in Uganda,” he said.
“The legal framework in Uganda gives us a number of opportunities and options to which we can contest this unfair process and going through the Supreme Court is one of the options,” Katana added. “We ask the people of Uganda to stand firm and work with us to explore all the options … to make sure that we stop this coup.”
The results were announced as Bobi Wine was under heavy guard at his home on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala, with his party saying he was under “effective house arrest” and the government saying it was merely providing him with security.
