Uganda: Opposition candidate briefly arrested after voting

Opposition officials said Kizza Besigye was arrested at dusk on polling day and held for about 30 minutes in the capital Kampala, but despite the tough security there were no reported flare ups of violence. On Monday, one person was killed and 19 wounded when he was briefly detained and his supporters erected barricades and hurled rocks at the police, who responded by firing bullets and teargas. Police and the army closely controlled the avalanche of negative messages campaigning against current president Yoweri Museveni. The networks have been flooded with rumors about attempts to rig the vote, including conspiracy theories that ballot-station pens would be filled with ink that would disappear before votes could be counted. A senior foreign election observer called the delays “absolutely inexcusable”.

“The Ugandan government’s decision to block access to social media on mobile phones on election day is a blatant violation of Ugandans’ fundamental rights to freedom of expression and to seek and receive information”, said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director.

“If the election is free and fair we will be the first people to respect it, even if we are not the victor”, Besigye said Thursday at a polling station in his rural home of Rukungiri.

Mr Besigye has said he does not think the election will be free and fair.

Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who is heading the Commonwealth Observer Group, released a statement saying, “A delay of an hour or two is excusable”. The opposition tweeted photographs of what they said were pre-marked ballot papers in favor of Museveni, while local media tweeted photographs of ballot boxes that reportedly weren’t sealed and may have been tampered with.

“A lot of negativity, lies, are being beamed down to create unnecessary tension”, the police inspector general, Kale Kayihura, said of social media. “They know well that even if Museveni loses the elections he wants to win using all the forces, they are complaining, they may come into the street and protest”.

Voting was scheduled to last for nine hours, ending at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT).

The election was marked by delays in the delivery of voting materials, especially in areas seen as opposition strongholds.

Uganda’s electoral commission has apologised over delays in opening polling stations as people queue to vote in crucial elections.

“I came ready – I packed tea and pancakes to wait until I vote”.

People from the Karamojong tribe wait in line to vote at a polling station in a village near the town of Kaabong in Uganda’s Karamoja region.

Initial results are expected as early as Saturday afternoon with the leading candidate requiring more than 50 percent of votes cast to avoid a second round run-off. The 71-year-old president has been in power since 1986. He is a staunch United States ally, and Ugandan soldiers lead an African Union peacekeeping force against Islamist insurgents in Somalia.

One young voter, a student who was caught up in Thursday’s chaos and only gave his name as Ronnie, said he arrived early and was confident he would be able to finally cast his vote.