Uganda’s Museveni wins 7th term

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni won a seventh term in office at the weekend after an election marred by violence and an internet shutdown, with African observers saying arrests and abductions had “instilled fear”.

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SUPPORTERS of Uganda's incumbent president and National Resistance Movement presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni hold electoral posters and dance in celebration during a party gathering for the announcement of final results for the 2026 Ugandan presidential election at Lugogo Grounds in Kampala.

(AFP)

Museveni, 81, won 71.65% of the vote in last Thursday's election, the Electoral Commission said, amid reports of at least 10 deaths and intimidation of the opposition and civil society.

His victory allows the former guerilla fighter to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country.

He defeated Bobi Wine, 43, a former singer who styles himself the “ghetto president” after the Kampala slum areas where he grew up, but has faced relentless pressure including multiple arrests before his first run for the presidency in 2021.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, won 24.72%. He stated his “complete rejection of the fake results” and said he was in hiding after a raid by security forces on his home.

“I know that these criminals are looking for me everywhere and I am trying my best to keep safe,” he posted on X.

Police denied there had been any raid and said Wine was still at home, though they said there was a deployment around his residence.