Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, at 81, claimed victory in Thursday’s election, securing a seventh term with 72 percent.
Museveni labelled opposition figures, including Bobi Wine’s party, as “terrorists” allegedly attempting to use violence to overturn official results.
Opposition leader Bobi Wine, who reportedly won 25 percent, remained in hiding after claiming he escaped a police raid on Saturday.
Police denied raiding Wine’s home, claiming he remained inside, while blocking journalists from approaching his residence in central Kampala.
Wine has not posted on X since Saturday, when he denounced the “blatant theft” of the presidential election.
In his victory speech Sunday, Museveni accused Wine’s National Unity Platform of planning attacks on polling stations nationwide.
“Some of the opposition are wrong and also terrorists,” Museveni said, citing foreign and LGBTQ involvement in alleged plots.
Museveni warned traitors to stop, declaring, “we know what you are doing and you will not do it.”
The government partially restored internet late Saturday but said social media platforms remain blocked until further notice.
Authorities had cut the internet two days before the vote, citing the need to prevent “misinformation” and “incitement.”
Uganda remained mostly peaceful post-election, though small protests erupted Saturday, and tear gas was reportedly fired in parts of Kampala.
By Sunday, security presence eased, with streets filling and shops reopening across the capital and other urban areas.
Analysts described the election as largely symbolic, reflecting Museveni’s long-standing control over state institutions and the security apparatus.
Supporters praise Museveni for bringing relative stability and prosperity, contrasting the unrest witnessed during October’s Tanzanian elections.
The most serious election-day violence occurred in Butambala, central Uganda, where security forces reportedly killed at least 10 people.
Museveni justified the deaths as preventing a planned opposition attack on a local ballot-tallying centre and police station.
He claimed similar attacks had been planned “everywhere,” reinforcing his portrayal of the opposition as a security threat.
Human Rights Watch condemned the government’s pre-election crackdown as “brutal repression” of opposition activities and dissenting voices.