The Ugandan army has denied allegations that opposition leader Bobi Wine was kidnapped from his home, as vote counting continued in the elections.
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, appeared on track to declare victory and extend his 40-year rule later on Saturday, far ahead of Wine, the former singer-turned-politician.
Wine said on Friday that he was under house arrest, and his party later wrote on the X platform that he had been “forcibly taken” by an army helicopter from his residential compound.
For his part, army spokesman, Chris Magezi, said that “rumors of Bobi Wine’s arrest are baseless,” considering that they come within the framework of “inciting his supporters to commit acts of violence.”
AFP journalists said the situation was calm outside Wine's residence early Saturday morning, but they were unable to contact party members due to a continuing communications blackout.
The Electoral Commission announced that more than 80 percent of the votes had been counted on Friday, with Museveni leading with 73.7 percent compared to 22.7 percent for Wine. The final results are scheduled to be announced today, Saturday.
Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as a major rival to Museveni in recent years, dubbing himself the “slum boss” after the slums he grew up in in the capital, Kampala.
He has accused the government of "massive voter fraud" and of attacking several of his party officials under the cover of an internet outage, which was imposed before Thursday's election and remained in effect on Saturday.
His claims could not be independently verified, but the UN human rights office said last week that the elections were taking place in an environment characterized by “widespread repression and intimidation” against the opposition.
