[ad_1]
Ugandan electoral fee officers depend poll papers after the polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, on January 14, 2021.
Sumy Sadurni/AFP through Getty Images
disguise caption
toggle caption
Sumy Sadurni/AFP through Getty Images
Ugandan electoral fee officers depend poll papers after the polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, on January 14, 2021.
Sumy Sadurni/AFP through Getty Images
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has received a sixth time period in workplace, combating off a problem by former singer Bobi Wine — who was only a youngster when Museveni got here into energy again in 1986. Wine’s run drew many younger Ugandans to concentrate to politics.
The nation’s electoral fee introduced on Saturday that Museveni acquired 58% of the vote to 34% for Wine, in line with the Associated Press. But Wine is alleging that votes had been rigged, as election officers face questions over how outcomes had been tallied amid an web blackout, in line with the AP.
Ahead of the vote, Museveni’s authorities shut down social media retailers in Uganda, from Facebook and Instagram to Twitter. It additionally despatched army automobiles into the streets.
In a collection of tweets, the highest U.S. diplomat to Africa, Tibor Nagy, referred to as Uganda’s electoral course of “fundamentally flawed,” citing “authorities’ denial of accreditation to election observers, violence and harassment of opposition figures” and the arrest of civil service group employees.
“We continue to urge restraint and rejection of violence by all actors as Uganda’s election results are announced,” mentioned Nagy. “The immediate and full restoration of Internet connectivity is essential. The U.S. response hinges on what the Ugandan government does now.”
Wine, 38, is half Museveni’s age. Both males solid their ballots on Thursday, becoming a member of hundreds of thousands of different voters in Uganda. The election has been intently watched due to Wine’s enchantment to youthful voters — a vital power in a rustic with one of many youngest populations on this planet, the place greater than two-thirds of the inhabitants is beneath age 30.
By taking up Museveni, Wine sought to interchange certainly one of Africa’s longest-tenured leaders with certainly one of its youngest, hoping to make a generational shift that may be felt throughout the continent.
Born Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Wine turned a pop star with music that blends Afrobeat with sounds borrowed from reggae and dancehall. He then turned towards politics, successful a seat in parliament. Last yr, he launched a brand new tune and video, wherein he urged folks to take the COVID-19 pandemic severely.
Museveni responded to Wine’s election problem by ordering a crackdown that has included quite a few detentions of his opponent’s marketing campaign workers. This week, Wine mentioned the army had killed his driver and that his residence was raided. Wine himself was arrested in November, sparking massive protests throughout which dozens of individuals died.
Museveni lately advised NPR that he views pro-Wine demonstrators as “agents of foreign schemes.” The president additionally insisted that Wine has been repeatedly arrested not due to his political concepts however “for rioting and causing danger to other people.”
A current Gallup ballot discovered that solely round a 3rd of respondents in Uganda mentioned they’re assured within the honesty of their nation’s elections.
In 2016, questions in regards to the equity of Uganda’s election course of drove opposition candidate Kizza Besigye to name a information convention to dispute the outcomes – however he was detained by police in his election headquarters within the capital, Kampala, earlier than he might start talking.
This week, as ballots had been being counted and the end result of the 2021 vote hung within the stability, there have been worries about what a transition of leaders may appear to be within the former British colony. As Gallup notes, “Uganda has never witnessed a peaceful transfer of power since gaining its independence in 1962.”
[ad_2]
Source link
