KAMPALA, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni has taken an early lead in Uganda’s presidential election as vote tallying continues across the country, according to provisional results released by the Electoral Commission of Uganda on Friday morning.
Early figures from 133 polling stations show Museveni, the candidate of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), securing 61.7 per cent of the vote.
His closest challenger, National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Bobi Wine (Kyagulanyi Ssentamu), has garnered 33.4 per cent, the commission said.
The results offer an initial snapshot of the tightly watched contest but remain subject to change as additional returns are received and verified from polling centres nationwide.
The high-stakes election is a rematch between 81-year-old Museveni, who has been in power for nearly four decades, and 43-year-old opposition leader Bobi Wine, with six other candidates also in the race.
Museveni’s early advantage mirrors patterns seen in previous elections, where the long-serving president has often opened with a strong lead during the early stages of tallying.
Biometric Failures Disrupt Voting
Uganda’s electoral process came under scrutiny on Thursday after widespread biometric verification failures disrupted voting in several parts of the country — including at President Museveni’s own polling station.
Electronic voter identification machines failed to recognise Museveni’s fingerprints, briefly preventing him from casting his ballot and echoing complaints raised by voters across the country.
“I put my right fingerprints on the machines, but it didn’t work. The machine did not accept it. I put my left fingerprints, but it did not accept it,” Museveni told journalists after the incident.
He said the machine later accepted his facial scan, allowing him to vote, but questioned the reliability of the system.
“It could be they took them in a different angle. But my face was scanned and accepted by the machine,” he said.
The malfunction intensified concerns over Uganda’s biometric voting technology, which experienced delays and technical glitches, forcing election officials at several polling stations to revert to manual verification.
Museveni said the failures raised serious questions that would require investigation.
“So, I don’t know if this was an oversight or part of the manipulation. But we shall study all the other factors. We are following it. We will find out why,” he said.
Security Concerns Raised
The election period has also been marked by accusations that security forces used violence to suppress opposition supporters.
However, Uganda People’s Defence Forces spokesperson Col Chris Magezi dismissed the claims, saying the deployment of security personnel was aimed at preventing violence and maintaining order during the vote.
As tallying continues, Ugandans and international observers are closely watching the process amid calls for transparency, calm and respect for the final outcome.
