By Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. Ugandans were stunned on 11th September this year, when President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni accused the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) of stealing his votes during the 2021 general elections. Museveni claims to have concrete evidence that the NUP party, headed by Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine cheated by 1 million votes. NUP vote rigging allegation came out in almost 4 years since President Museveni was sworn in as the president of Uganda on a 6th term and in a year as the country prepares for the 2026 general elections.
Historical elections
On 14 January 2021, Uganda held elections to elect the President and the Members of Parliament. After the elections, Uganda’s Electoral Commission announced incumbent President Museveni Tibuhaburwa, who has ruled the country since 1986, as the winner with 58.64% of the votes. However, the United States State Department qualified the electoral process as “fundamentally flawed, and Africa Elections Watch said they observed irregularities. Sanctions- On Friday 16 April 2021, the U.S. announced visa restrictions to Ugandan government officials whose actions they believe interfered with the electoral process which undermined democracy and respect for human rights, during the January presidential elections. According to the media statement which was released by Antony Blinken the US Secretary of State, the Uganda government’s actions represented a downward trajectory for democracy and respect for human rights, and opposition candidates who were arrested and held illegally without charges. Campaign irregularities- Starting with the campaign, Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying that the campaign was characterized by widespread violence and human rights abuses, including killings by security forces, arrests, and beatings of opposition supporters and journalists, and the disruption of opposition rallies. Access to social media was severely limited before and several days after polling day. Scapegoat- Murithi Mutiga, a Horn of Africa specialist at Crisis Group reported that Ugandan opposition figures accused the authorities of deliberately restricting political freedoms by citing coronavirus risks to ban political rallies.
Museveni’s accusation grounds
According to Mr Museveni, the vote rigging was supported by the failure of the voting machines. The president blames an apparent loophole in the law, which allows multiple voting when the electronic voting system malfunctions. The East African President did not provide evidence to back up his claims. Neither did he elaborate on the formula used to reach his conclusion. He did not say whether he conducted an audit of the election results or relied on intelligence analysis. Even by the low standards of recent Ugandan elections, observers said that the 2021 election cycle stood out for the brazenness of official attempts to intimidate the opposition and the ferocity of the police response to protests, but the government denied the accusation.
Electronic system proposal
President Museveni extensively spoke about the need to amend the laws to allow electronic voting in Uganda in order to combat electoral malpractices due to its uniqueness. Uganda’s Fountain of Honors proposal is that the law must be amended to state that if the electronic system fails, elections at that polling station should be suspended.
NUP reaction
The National Unity Platform (NUP) forcefully refuted President Museveni’s recent accusations of vote rigging in the 2021 general elections, labelling the claims as “outrageous”, “laughable” and “shameless.” NUP Secretary-General David Lewis Rubongoya responded to the president’s allegations, highlighting the irony of the accusations given the widespread claims of rigging by the government in the same election. Authorities in NUP called Museveni’s allegations laughable. According to Rubongoya, Museveni who engaged in massive election rigging, is now accusing NUP of the same. The 2021 election was described as an election from hell, with ballot stuffing, arrests of our polling agents, and the seizure of declaration forms.
The Ugandan leading opposition party further questioned how Museveni could have secured 100 percent of the vote in 400 polling stations, calling such results “ridiculous by all standards. Rubongoya challenged Museveni to present his evidence, noting that NUP’s own attempts to present evidence of electoral malpractice were blocked by the Supreme Court. He reiterated NUP’s call for an independent audit of the 2021 elections, overseen by credible international bodies like the United Nations. Bobi Wine’s petition- On 1st February 2021, the runner-up in Uganda’s Jan, presidential polls NUP’s President Bobi Wine, petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge election results. He wanted the court to declare the election null and void of the incumbent President Museveni, on the ground that the election was neither free nor fair, and was marred with gross irregularities, violence, and outright rigging. In March Bobi Wine withdrew the petition from the Supreme Court citing bias, Impartiality of the court, and the uncomfortable composition of the judges chosen to hear the petition. As the country prepares for the 2026 general elections, Rubongoya suggested that Museveni may be laying the groundwork for further undemocratic practices, questioning his ability to win a popular vote.
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