By Spy Uganda
Kampala: A human rights organisation, United Nations Watch believes that Uganda’s ‘selection’ not election according to pundits, was not free and fair as it goes on to accuse the re-elected President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, of silencing and killing opponents to retain his three decades plus office.
Museveni was announced the winner of the election by the electoral commission on Saturday with 58.6 per cent of the vote, in an election disputed by his main rival, Bobi Wine, who trailed with 34. (Ambien) 8 per cent.
But, on Monday, The UN Watch took to its Twitter account to allege that Museveni committed “widespread voter fraud” to win the just-concluded presidential election.
READ ALSO: UN Warns Museveni Over Human Rights Violations-“There Will Be Time For Accountability”
The post read, “Congratulations to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni on winning re-election after murdering, imprisoning and silencing opponents, shutting down the Internet, and committing widespread voter fraud.”
Congratulations to 🇺🇬 Uganda President Yoweri Museveni on winning re-election after murdering, imprisoning & silencing opponents, shutting down the internet, and committing widespread voter fraud.
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) January 17, 2021
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The UN watch’s message comes after on Sunday Museveni’s closest rival Robert Kyagulanyi announced that he will legally contest the results declared by Electoral Commission he accuses of working not for Ugandans by for Museveni.
“I take this painful but nonetheless inevitable leadership decision of urging you to desist from any form of violence as we prepare to challenge the election outcome and its glaring imperfections through the courts of law for the sake of our long-term victory and for Uganda,” he said.
However, the 76-year-old Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, dismissed the allegations of fraud in an evening address to the nation, saying Thursday’s election was one of the “most cheating-free” in Uganda’s history.
He thanked his supporters and said, “now the only thing to avoid is violence”.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that campaigns were marked by a deadly crackdown by security forces on Bobi Wine, other opposition candidates and their supporters.
In the run-up to the vote, local civil society groups and foreign governments questioned its credibility and transparency after scores of requests for accreditation to monitor the election were denied under unclear reasons.
The United States and an African election-monitoring group complained of election irregularities.
The US Department of State’s top diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, said in a tweet on Saturday the “electoral process has been fundamentally flawed”.
He cited fraud reports, denial of accreditation to observers, violence and harassment of opposition members, and the arrest of civil society activists.
The United Kingdom said it was concerned by the national internet shutdown, adding that it constrained freedoms and “clearly limited the transparency of the elections”.
In a statement, British Minister for Africa James Duddridge also called for an investigation into alleged election irregularities.
