KAMPALA, Uganda- Votes are being counted in parts of Uganda amid an internet shutdown and opposition accusations of rigging in presidential and parliamentary elections.
“Massive ballot-stuffing reported everywhere,” declared presidential hopeful Bobi Wine in a post on social media, without providing documentary proof.
The authorities have not responded to his allegations of electoral fraud, nor to his claim that “many” polling agents and supervisors belonging to his NUP party were “abducted, and others chased off polling stations”.
Delays of up to four hours have been blamed on malfunctioning biometric machines used to verify voters’ identities.
Some have linked the problems to the network outage – plus a lack of voting materials, and equipment not arriving at some stations on time.
Polling stations therefore closed later than planned. The electoral commission says that anybody who joined the queue by 17:00 local time (14:00GMT) was able to cast their ballot.
Earlier on, the electoral agency apologised for the “technical glitches” and said officials were working to resolve them.
In the presidential race, Yoweri Museveni, 81, in power since 1986, is seeking a seventh successive victory as he faces a challenge from Bobi Wine, a charismatic 43-year-old pop star.
The result of the presidential vote will be announced by 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Saturday, the electoral commission has said.
Voting had finished by 18:00 local time in the polling stations in the capital, Kampala visited by the BBC, despite the delays.
While data on turnout has not yet been published, this suggests that some people may have gone home without voting.
However, others were determined to cast their ballots and there was widespread frustration at the problems in the morning.
“I’m angry because I have not voted up to now. We are meant to start at seven, but up to now [08:00] we haven’t started. The ballots papers are not even there, I don’t even know what to say,” Kaweesi Ismail, a voter in Kampala, told the BBC.
Election chief Simon Byabakama ordered the use of the national voters’ register where biometric machines failed to function.
The problems appear to have affected both areas seen as pro-government as well as those thought to be opposition strongholds.
Casting his vote in his native Rwakitura Village in the western Mbarara region, President Museveni said he had also experienced difficulties.
“I put my thumbprint on the machine but it did not accept it. However, my face was accepted instantly by the machine. The machine works,” he said.
Asked if he would accept the election outcome, the president said: “This is one of the manipulations – we have to find out why, what was the problem?”
“We are now verifying whether this was deliberate,” he added.
Story By The BBC
