He won 72 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said, compared to 25 percent for his nearest challenger Bobby Wine, who denounced what he described as “false results” and “ballot rigging.”
Wine did not provide any details and authorities did not respond to his allegations, but African Union election monitors said they had seen “no evidence of rigging”. Wine called for non-violent protests, reports the BBC.
Museveni first came to power as a rebel leader in 1986, but has since won seven elections.
The election process has been marred by violence, and Wine, a 43-year-old former pop star, says at least 21 people have been killed across the country in recent days. Authorities have confirmed seven deaths so far.
Internet access has been cut in the country since Tuesday, making it difficult to verify information. Authorities say the internet shutdown was necessary to prevent disinformation, fraud and incitement to violence – a move the UN human rights office condemned as “deeply troubling”.
Wine’s party said overnight that he had been abducted from his home in the capital, Kampala, but that claim was denied by police. Wine later posted a statement on Facebook saying he had managed to evade a nighttime raid by security forces and was in hiding. He previously said he was under house arrest.
Police have not confirmed this, but spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said Wine’s movements were restricted because his home was an area of ”security interest”.
During the campaign, Wine promised to fight corruption and impose comprehensive reforms, while Museveni claimed to be the only guarantor of stability in Uganda, a country with a history of conflict.
There were six other candidates in the elections, but none of them received more than two percent of the vote. The turnout was 52.5 percent.
The campaign period was marked by disruption of opposition activities – security forces were accused of attacking and detaining Wine’s supporters, and the police dismissed these complaints, accusing opposition supporters of disruption.
(Vijesti.ba/FENA)
