Kampala – Ugandans started casting their votes on Thursday to decide whether to give Yoweri Museveni, in power for three decades, another term in office.
Report said voting at most polling stations in the capital, Kampala, was yet to start 90 minutes after the official opening of polling at 7 am local time (0400 GMT), leading to concerns among some voters.
Dickson Mamber, a 34-year-old history teacher, who had been waiting in line for two hours at Muyembe polling station in Kampala, said, “If the voting time is reduced like this, there will be many people who will not be able to vote.
The report said voting at the station still had not started by 0545 GMT.
Meanwhile, critics said all sides contesting the election accuse each other of stoking tensions and assembling vigilante groups, and the leading opposition candidates have predicted vote rigging.
They said Museveni, 71, has pleased Western allies by sending in peacekeeping troops to hotspots such as Somalia.
He faces two main challengers, longtime opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who has run unsuccessfully in three previous elections, and former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, who until recently was a close ally.
Besigye has earlier said Museveni was “not going to go peacefully” and said his supporters may stage street protests to dispute the election outcome, incase Museveni won.
Meanwhile, Museveni has warned opponents to expect a tough response from security services, if violence erupts.
The U.S. last week supported calls for a peaceful, transparent and credible vote.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Museveni, who came to power in 1986 after waging a five-year guerrilla war, was hailed by many Ugandans as providing decades of relative peace and economic stability.
His rivals, however, are drawing strength from a clamour for fresh leadership.
Meanwhile, government communications regulator has announced the closure of Facebook and Twitter and blocked mobile money transactions.
Uganda is an overwhelmingly youthful country, and all the candidates have sought to stir the enthusiasm of younger voters. The country’s Communications Commission Executive, said they were suspended for some time for security reasons. (Reuters/NAN)
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