Advertisement
Old guard still running the show as Museveni takes early lead against Wine
16th January, 2026 08:57 AM
The NRM Party presidential flag-bearer, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,has taken an early lead in the just concluded Uganda’s elections.
In a live broadcast coverage, Uganda’s NBS Television on Friday January 16, 2026 indicated that Museveni is leading with atleast 70% of the votes cast.
Further, Uganda’s provisional results show that the former pop star Bobi Wine comes second with a huge gap of atleast 25% of the votes tallied.
Uganda’s elections challenges
As the vote counts continue, logistical problems were early on reported to have delayed voting in the Uganda’s presidential and parliamentary elections in many parts of the country amid an internet shutdown.
According to observers, growing frustration among voters was observed at some polling stations in the capital, Kampala, where voting had yet to start in the general election.
At the time, the delays were blamed on failures of biometric identification kits, which some were linked to the network outage, as well as a lack of equipment in some places.
Some polling stations in the capital, Kampala, and the eastern city of Jinja remained closed several hours after voting was supposed to start.
According to local reports, in some instances ballot papers had not been delivered, and biometric machines used to check voters’ identities were not working. Anxious crowds at polling stations spoke of their concerns about the delay.
Just after reports on the delays went viral, Uganda’s electoral agency swiftly moved to apologise for the “technical glitches” with officials saying they 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.
Bobi Wine blames govt
Meanwhile just as the results have been trickling in, the former pop star and Presidential Candidate Bobi Wine has blamed the Ugandan government of ballot stuffing.
Taking to his official X account on Thursday, January 15, 2026, Wine accused the government of arresting and abducting his party’s officials during Thursday’s general election, which took place against the backdrop of an internet shutdown.
“Internet switched off. Massive ballot stuffing is reported everywhere. Our leaders … arrested. Many of our polling agents and supervisors were abducted, and others were chased off polling stations. RISE TO THE OCCASION AND REJECT THE CRIMINAL REGIME,” Wine wrote.
