Uganda Hit By Violence As Opposition Claims Election Fraud

Uganda is in turmoil after its opposition leader refused to accept the result of the country's general election which returned autocratic President Yoweri Museveni to power, claiming that fraud and intimidation hindered the poll.

Kizza Besigye, leader of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, rejected the official results of the poll giving him 37 per cent of votes cast to Museveni’s 59 per cent, as violence flared between his supporters and security forces in the capital, Kampala. European Union and independent Ugandan observers said the campaign and ballot had been blighted by government interference, spurious criminal charges laid against Besigye and problems with voter registration, and could not be described as a fair and free contest.

Besigye said he would not accept the official outcome of the poll - Uganda’s first multi-party elections in 25 years - because of ‘widespread irregularities’.

His agents’ tallies at polling stations showed he had won 49 per cent of the votes to Museveni’s 47 per cent, he said.

The campaign ‘was marked by gross unfairness occasioned by the state which we did not consider to be an environment conducive to the free and fair expression of the Ugandan electorate’, said Besigye.

‘It is disgraceful that the government has chosen to abuse power and terrorize its opponents.’

Museveni, who has been in power for more than 20 years, was declared the winner by Uganda’s Electoral Commission yesterday afternoon.

But Max van den Berg, the EU’s chief observer, said Besigye’s campaign was hampered by numerous court appearances for rape and other charges which had been trumped up in order to damage him politically. The EU also said there was no level playing field in the elections due to the stranglehold Museveni still had on the country’s media.

The BBC reported that police clashed with opposition activists outside the party HQ of Dr Besigye’s party.

But no injuries were reported and there have not so far been any major scenes of violence in contrast to fierce clashes that broke out during polls in 2001.

The FDC has cited a number of irregularities, including allegations that soldiers were deployed near voting booths to intimidate opposition supporters. The party also claimed its supporters were removed from electoral lists.