President Museveni takes early lead in Ugandan election

President Yoweri Museveni has taken an early lead as votes are counted in Uganda’s most keenly watched election in years, while opposition figures have said the vote was marred by fraud and violence.

With a quarter of the votes counted, Museveni had more than 60% of the tallied ballots, leading his main rival, the pop star turned politician Bobi Wine, in almost every region. Wine has galvanised a mass movement of young people challenging the president’s 34-year rule.

Wine, one of 10 opposition challengers, had gained about a quarter of the vote.

At a press conference on Friday morning, Wine dismissed the results announced by Uganda’s electoral body, claiming there had been widespread vote rigging. He had earlier claimed there was “fraud and violence” at the polls.

“Despite the widespread fraud and violence experienced across the country earlier today, the picture still looks good. Thank you Uganda for turning up and voting in record numbers,” he said in statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

Results are expected to be announced by Saturday. A candidate must win more than 50% to avoid a runoff vote.

Helicopters and tanks patrolled skies and streets in Uganda as millions went to the polls on Thursday, following one of the most turbulent and violent election campaigns.

Security forces loyal to Museveni violently suppressed opposition supporters during the campaign. Museveni’s bid for a sixth term in power was only made possible when MPs changed the constitution to remove age limits. He has repeatedly accused Wine of being a foreign-backed “traitor”, while Wine has branded him a “dictator”.

Many in Africa see the challenge to Museveni, who at 76 is twice as old as Wine, as emblematic of a continent-wide generational struggle between ageing leaders who refuse to relinquish power and younger voters mobilising against them.

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Wine has the backing of many young people in Uganda – where the median age is 15.7 – who are drawn to his charismatic, anti-establishment message.

Many observers have expressed fears of state-backed moves to prevent transparency during the polls. On Wednesday night internet access was cut off for most users in the east African country, though some have used VPNs to communicate online. Uganda’s electoral commission said the lack of internet access had not affected the tallying of the count from around the country.

After polls closed on Thursday, hundreds of Wine supporters in Kampala returned to their polling stations to heed his call to “protect the vote” by watching the count. At the station where Wine had voted, security forces chased his supporters away.

Isabella Akiteng, a civil society activist, said late on Thursday that she and 29 others who were observing the polls had been arrested at a hotel in Kampala and were being interrogated by police.

On Wednesday the US and EU said they would not observe the elections, after several officials were denied accreditation.