Museveni Reelected President in Uganda

President Yoweri Museveni, already East Africa’s longest-serving leader, won reelection Saturday to another five-year term at Uganda’s helm. But his chief opponent disputed the official tally and called on supporters to reject it.

Museveni, who has led Uganda since 1986, received 59% of the votes, compared with 37% for opposition leader Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change, according to figures released by Uganda’s Electoral Commission. The remainder of the votes were divided among three other candidates.

“We trounced them,” said Patrick Muwonge, one of hundreds of Museveni’s supporters celebrating his victory here in Kampala, the capital. “How can they complain that the vote was unfair?”

Besigye’s supporters reacted with frustration and anger. Riot police used tear gas to break up crowds outside his campaign headquarters, where hundreds of young men had gathered to await the results.

Some supporters predicted violence in the coming days, but others expressed fear about provoking already edgy police. “The moment you step in the street, you’ll be dead,” said Kisekka Richard, a taxi driver. “The police are ready to shoot.”

Besigye said Saturday that in the next few days his party would release its own vote tally, which he said was substantially different from the official results.

“We call on our supporters to remain calm [and] ignore what the electoral commission has announced,” he told reporters.

The dispute is almost certain to land in Uganda’s courts, as it did five years ago when the two men first faced each other and Museveni won 69% to Besigye’s 28%. The nation’s high court found irregularities but refused to overturn the results.

Representatives for two international observer groups said Friday that they believed the election, though marred by some flaws, was largely free and fair.

“We have not come across any large-scale or systematic attempt to manipulate the voting process,” said former Botswanan President Ketumile Masire, head of the Commonwealth Observer Group, a democracy group based in London. European Union observers agreed but noted that the campaign did not allow for “a level playing field.”

Museveni enjoyed access to state resources, including helicopters for campaign travel and state-owned media, EU leaders said. By contrast, Besigye spent much of the campaign in jail, fighting charges of treason and rape that were filed upon his return from self-imposed exile in South Africa.

Thursday’s election was the first multi-party poll in Uganda since 1980. Voter turnout was about 68%, the commission said.

International donors were watching closely. Once a darling of the West for his economic and social reforms, Museveni fell out of favor last year after ramming through a constitutional amendment to lift presidential term limits and clear the way for his reelection bid.

Donors accused him of backsliding on the country’s democratic progress and seeking to become “president for life.” Some worry that other African presidents will follow Museveni’s example. Faced with term limits, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is mulling a similar strategy.