Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has alleged that the National Unity Platform (NUP), led by his two-time challenger Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, manipulated the 2021 General Election by introducing 2.7 million fake votes, one million locally and 1.7 million imported from Dubai.
Museveni, 81, who was declared winner of the January 15 presidential poll with 71.65 per cent of the vote, credited the use of biometric voter verification kits (BVVKs) for blocking the alleged fraud.
“When you hear there is opposition, there is none in Uganda. It is just cheating,” he said, describing how the kits helped secure his victory.
The long-serving leader, in power since 1986, raised concerns over technical failures during the election, including his own verification difficulties, suggesting some Electoral Commission (EC) staff may have sabotaged the process.
Opposition leaders rejected the results as fraudulent. Joel Ssenyonyi, Leader of Opposition in Parliament, questioned why the expensive machines failed nationwide, while Kyagulanyi accused the government of deliberately causing chaos in opposition strongholds, citing the internet shutdown and the switch to manual verification as facilitating irregularities.
Museveni received 7.95 million votes, while Kyagulanyi garnered 2.74 million. Following a military raid on his home on January 16, Kyagulanyi’s whereabouts remain unknown, though Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, stated authorities were seeking him “dead or alive.”
