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Ugandan voters faced delays as many polling stations remained closed hours after voting was due to start, following an internet shutdown and a crackdown on the opposition. President Yoweri Museveni is expected to win a seventh term, while singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine remains his main challenger.
The start of voting was chaotic, with polls yet to open in several locations more than two hours past the official time. AFP reporters witnessed some voters eventually casting ballots after lengthy delays, but in many areas, biometric devices used to verify voters failed to function. There were growing rumours the malfunction was connected to the government-imposed internet blackout that began two days earlier.
“We are seeing a delay in opening of the polling stations. There is failure of the kit that is meant to identity voters,” an election observer in the eastern city of Jinja told AFP.
A ruling party official, who asked not to be named, confirmed the technical issues were widespread.
“Some biometric machines are not working. I don’t know if it’s the internet,” he said.
Despite earlier assurances, the government cut off internet access on Tuesday for an indefinite period, saying the move was meant to curb “misinformation” and “incitement to violence”.
Wine’s lawyer, George Musisi, who is also contesting a parliamentary seat, described the delays as “deliberate to ensure that voter turnout is very low”.
However, the disruptions appeared to affect both pro-government and opposition strongholds.
“I am worried,” said Katomgole Juma, a 48-year-old craftsman waiting to vote beneath a large campaign poster of Museveni in central Kampala. “People will be upset because they won’t be certain of the result.”
As seen during his 2021 campaign, hundreds of Wine’s supporters were arrested in the weeks leading up to the vote. He attended rallies wearing a flak jacket, branding the election a “war” and describing Museveni as a “military dictator”.
“We are very aware that they are planning to rig the election, to brutalise people, to kill people, and they don’t want the rest of the world to see,” Wine told AFP on the eve of the poll.
The United Nations has described the internet shutdown as “deeply worrying”. Wine has vowed to mobilise protests if the process is manipulated.
Another prominent opposition figure, Kizza Besigye — who challenged Museveni four times — was abducted in Kenya in 2024 and returned to Uganda, where he now faces an ongoing treason trial before a military court.
Despite growing criticism, many Ugandans still credit Museveni with restoring stability after years of turmoil and driving economic growth, even though corruption scandals have repeatedly tainted his administration.
“Peace and security in the country is very good. The party is well-organised,” said Angee Abraham Lincoln, 42, a Museveni supporter waiting to vote in Kampala.
Western governments have often given Museveni political breathing space, following his adoption of neoliberal reforms in the 1980s and his later role as a key ally in the US-led “war on terror”, particularly through Uganda’s military involvement in Somalia.
Ahead of the vote, Museveni struck a defiant tone, telling supporters: “Go and vote. Anybody who wants to interfere with your freedom, I will crush them.”
Security was visibly heavy across many areas, with police warning that voting was “not a justification for criminal acts”, an apparent attempt to deter protests similar to those seen recently in Kenya and Tanzania.
Journalists reported harassment, while Human Rights Watch condemned the suspension of 10 NGOs, including election observers, saying the opposition has faced “brutal repression”.
