Uganda's opposition rejects Museveni's reelection as 'fraud'

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - A day after Uganda's longtime leader was declared winner of the country's presidential election, the opposition party dismissed the results as 'œfraud'ť and called for the release of their leader, Bobi Wine, who has allegedly been under house arrest since polling day.

President Yoweri Museveni won a sixth five-year term, extending his rule to four decades, according to official results.

Uganda's military on Sunday continued to hold top opposition challenger Wine at his home, saying troops were there to protect him. Wine dismissed Museveni's victory as 'œcooked-up, fraudulent results'ť while his party urged the government to release him.

'œWe ask Ugandans to reject this fraud," the opposition party, the National Unity Platform, said in a statement Sunday. 'ťThis is a revolution and not an event. A revolution of this nature cannot be stopped by a fraudulent election."

The opposition party said that its 'œquest for a free Uganda is on despite the current attack on free speech and association,'ť referring to the days-long shutdown of the internet by the government. The party urged its followers to use every 'œconstitutionally available avenue'ť to pursue political change.

'œAs we speak now, our president (Wine) is under illegal detention at his home,'ť opposition lawmaker Mathias Mpuuga, told reporters at a news conference Sunday. Mpuuga spoke at the headquarters of Wine's party in Kampala.

'œPerhaps his crime was to defeat Mr. Museveni on the day he has selected as his crowning,'ť he said. Wine 'œis not allowed to leave or receive visitors at his home,'ť he said.

Wine tweeted Sunday that military units are not allowing him and his wife, Barbie, from leaving their house, not even to harvest food from their garden.

'œIt's now four days since the military surrounded our home and placed my wife and I under house arrest,'ť said Wine's tweet. 'œWe have run out of food supplies and when my wife tried to pick food from the garden yesterday, she was blocked and assaulted by the soldiers staged in our compound.'ť

Wine's party alleged that soldiers had actually broken into his compound and were freely using utilities including power and water.

'œWe are concerned about the state in which he is,'ť party spokesman Joel Ssenyonyi said of Wine. 'œIs his house now a barracks?'ť

He added: 'œThere will be a Uganda after Museveni and there will be an army that serves the interests of the country.'ť

Uganda's electoral commission said that Museveni received 58% of the vote to Wine's 34%, with a voter turnout of 52%.

Although Museveni stays in power, at least nine of his Cabinet ministers, including the vice president, were defeated in the parliamentary elections, many losing to candidates from Wine's party, local media reported.

In a generational clash watched across the African continent with a booming young population and a host of aging leaders, the 38-year-old singer-turned-lawmaker Wine posed arguably the greatest challenge yet to Museveni, 76, since he came to power in 1986.

Calling himself the 'œghetto president,'ť Wine had strong support in Uganda's cities, urban where frustration with unemployment and corruption is high.

Museveni dismissed the claims of vote-rigging.

'œI think this may turn out to be the most cheating-free election since 1962,'ť when Uganda won independence from Britain, said Museveni in a national address on Saturday.

The electoral commission deflected questions about how countrywide voting results were transmitted during the internet blackout by saying 'œwe designed our own system.'ť

'œWe did not receive any orders from above during this election,'ť commission chair Simon Byabakama told reporters, adding his team was 'œneither intimidated nor threatened.'ť

Tracking the vote was further complicated by the arrests of independent monitors and the denial of accreditation to most members of the U.S. observer mission, leading the U.S. to cancel its monitoring of the vote.

'œUganda's electoral process has been fundamentally flawed,'ť the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, tweeted, warning that 'œthe U.S. response hinges on what the Ugandan government does now.'ť

The U.S. State Department urged 'œindependent, credible, impartial, and thorough investigations'ť into reports of irregularities. It condemned 'œthe continuing attacks on political candidates'ť and called for the immediate restoration of the internet and social media.

'œWe reiterate our intention to pursue action against those responsible for the undermining of democracy and human rights in Uganda,'ť it said.

Events in Uganda are also being followed by the man named by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to be his National Security Advisor.

'œThe news from Uganda is deeply concerning. Bobi Wine, other political figures, and their supporters should not be harmed, and those who perpetrate political violence must be held accountable,'ť tweeted Jake Sullivan on Sunday. 'œAfter this flawed election, the world is watching.'ť

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AP journalists Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya and Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg contributed.