Ugandans to head to the polling booths

Museveni 'likely' to extend 40-year rule

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Efrance Nsudde, 50, campaigns for Uganda's incumbent President Yoweri Museveni as she dances while holding party flags at a busy roundabout in Kampala on Saturday, ahead of this year's general elections. AFP

(AFP)

Ugandans will vote in elections on Thursday which are all but guaranteed to extend the 40-year rule of President Yoweri Museveni, with many nervous about a possible crackdown.

Mr Museveni faces singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, 43 real name Robert Kyagulanyi who is taking a second run at the presidency after his 2021 campaign ended in bloodshed and disappointment.

But the 81-year-old incumbent president, who has held power since 1986, is taking few chances. Rights groups and international monitors have accused authorities of arrests, abductions and media intimidation in the run-up to the polls.

Kampala has been quiet in recent days as residents headed home to their villages to vote - or take shelter.

Mr Wine, who has been repeatedly arrested in the past, campaigned in a flak jacket, saying the race has become a "war".