The country went into polls on Thursday 18thFebruary 2016 to elect the President, Parliament seats and local government seats for the next five years.
According to some reports, the Electoral Commission of Uganda (ECU) has started the counting of votes, an exercise expected to last for about 48 hours.
Some media reported that balloting was delayed at some polling stations in the capital, Kampala, because election materials arrived late.
Earlier on before the voting started there were some reports that the country’s communications regulator shut down some social media to stop further campaigning.
President Museveni, 71, is seeking another term in a race widely seen as the tightest in Ugandan's history. The country went into polls on Thursday 18th February to elect a president who will lead the country for the next five years.
Eight Presidential candidates are gunning for presidency including one female. Incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, leader of the ruling party National Resistance Movement (NRM), is contesting his fifth term in office. There are no term limits on Presidential candidates in Uganda. The President’s most prominent opposition is Kizza Besigye, a retired colonel, is running for the fourth time on the ticket of the largest opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
Museveni is also facing his long-time advisor Amama Mbabazi, a former Prime Minister and former NRM Secretary General between 2010 and 2014. Other contesters include Abed Bwanika (People’s Development Party), Benon Biraaro (Uganda Farmers Party), Venansius Baryamureeba, Joseph Mabirizi and Maureen Kyalya each running as an independent candidate.
ECU report stated that the number of registered voters for this general election is 15,294,070. This is the 3rd multi-party election since the introduction of multi-party political system in the country in the year 2005.
Before the polling date, the country held its Second Televised Presidential Debate on Saturday February 13, 2016 at Serena Hotel in Kampala on which President Museveni also participated. The focus of the second debate was topics on foreign policy, economy and national security.
The first televised Presidential debate in the Ugandan history was held on Friday January 15, 2016 bringing on board all Presidential candidates except President Museveni. Topics such as Uganda’s growing national debt, corruption, education and job creation were at the center of all candidates’ manifestos.
By Jacinta W. Odongo; Media Officer, Uganda Episcopal Conference