Officials from Ugandas Electoral Commission count votes after the closing of the polls at a public ground used as a polling station in Kampala on January 15, 2026, during Ugandas 2026 general elections. Picture: Luis Tato / AFP Uganda’s opposition said its leader Bobi Wine was under house arrest on Friday, after an election that also saw a member of parliament accuse security forces of killing 10 people at his home. President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country and has been accused of “brutal repression” of the opposition.
Uganda’s Electoral Commission said Friday that Museveni was on 75.4 percent to Wine’s 20.7 with close to 60 percent of votes counted. Authorities imposed an internet blackout during the election that was still in place on Friday. Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as the main challenger to Museveni in recent years.
The former singer styles himself the “ghetto president” after the slum areas of Kampala where he grew up. “The military and police have surrounded the residence of President Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert, effectively placing him and his wife under house arrest,” his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), wrote on X late Thursday. AFP journalists visited the compound on Friday and said it was outwardly calm, though a military vehicle and several police officers were stationed outside.
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Muwanga Kivumbi, member of parliament for Wine’s party in the Butambala area of central Uganda, told AFP’s Nairobi office by phone that security forces had stormed his home, where hundreds of supporters had gathered after voting ended. His wife Zahara Nampewo, a law professor, said the 10 were campaign agents who hid in their garage and that the security forces had fired through the door.
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