Micheal Nelson Byaruhanga on Uganda’s costly vote, shutdowns and Museveni’s 50 years rule
With 24 hours left to the presidential polling day in Uganda, 48-year-old Albert Asiimwe, a local peasant farmer in the western district of Masindi, could not withdraw money from his mobile money account to pay for ambulance services to transport his pregnant wife to the hospital for safe delivery. The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) had directed all licensed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country to suspend mobile money withdrawals and public internet access ahead of the January 15, 2026, presidential elections.
In a letter dated January 13 2026, and signed by the UCC’s executive director, Mr Nyombi Thembo, the communication regulatory authority alluded their action to the recommendations by the Inter-Agency Security Committee and moved to curb what they regarded as a rapid spread of online misinformation, disinformation, election fraud and related risks, during the election period.
But for Albert’s wife and their unborn baby, the shutdown proved to be a death sentence. Florence Nyakaisiki bled due to a ruptured uterus and lost her life and baby while being assisted to give birth by a traditional birth attendant in their home village of Alimugonza, Pakanyi Sub-County. However, the painful death of his beloved wife did not stop Albert from going out to vote. It only changed who he would vote for on the ballot paper. According to Albert, his vote was a pursuit of justice for the deceased mother of his beloved four children.
With a grieving heart, the former supporter of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party decided to cast his vote for the opposition leader, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, whose campaign using the slogan ‘protest vote’ promised better health services, quality education, employment and freedom for all Ugandans. Mr Wine came second with 2,741, 238 votes (24.72%) in the January 17, 2026, election result declaration given by the Electoral Commission chairman, Mr Simon Byabakama, in the capital Kampala.
Byabakama announced Yoweri Museveni the winner of the 2026 presidential elections, garnering 7,946,772 votes (71.65%) out of the total 11 million votes cast—extending his rule to nearly half a century in an election that saw a low voter turnout countrywide. The Electoral Commission head confirmed that 10 million Ugandans, representing 48% of the total registered 21 million voters, did not vote in the presidential elections.
“We reject whatever is being declared by Mr Byabakama because those so-called results that they are declaring are fake and they don’t in any way reflect what happened at the polling stations,” Wine, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, reacted to the results in a video released via social media.
Mr Wine alleged irregularities, including late delivery of voting materials, failure of Biometric Voter Verification Kits (BVVK), voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, arrest of party agents, and killing of NUP supporters on the polling day. These incidences according to the 43-year-old former pop singer, disenfranchised voters and denied them their constitutional right to a free and fair electoral process.
The NUP leader also disclosed that he had been forced into hiding after the military raided his home the night of January 16. The United Nations says the election was marred by ‘widespread repression and intimidation.’ Local media reported killings of opposition supporters across the country, with the Uganda police putting the number of the dead at seven in Butambala district. The NUP disputes these figures, saying at least 10 people were shot dead when the police attacked the home of the party official.
In a contradicting post on his official X handle, President Museveni’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the commander of the national army, referred to the dead opposition supporters as terrorists. The Sandhurst Military Academy graduate claimed that 22 NUP members had been killed, a number he thinks is too low in one week. Muhoozi’s post connects with President Museveni’s comments during his victory speech on January 18, describing NUP supporters as terrorists who had planned to use violence to overturn election results.
The 81-year-old who campaigned under the slogan ‘protecting the gains’ is gearing up for his seventh term in office, becoming one of the longest serving Presidents on the continent. His challenger, Mr Wine, told the BBC from his hiding place that he will not contest the results in court. The NUP strongman instead urged his supporters, a majority of whom are youths to take to the streets and demand their victory against Museveni, who came to power in 1986 through military violence.
As the East African country recovers from an election that cost the taxpayer 1.1 trillion shillings (approximately $317,185,000 USD) as per the Ministry of Finance’s Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal update, anxious citizens await what another five years under Museveni will look like. The landlocked nation continues to grapple with the unresolved questions about peaceful transfer of power, high unemployment rate, corruption, human rights violations, poor service delivery, choking national debt and biting poverty.