Five more years of undemocratic rule in Uganda after election

Uganda’s 30-year incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni, won another term in office in Saturday’s disputed election.

Many have cried foul over the election results, but the outcome isn’t surprising.

“We do have cases where presidents who stay in power are able to hold elections and give themselves a semblance of being democratically elected,” said Stephanie Wolters, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa. “But either there’s vote rigging, or there’s situations where the political opposition doesn’t even have a voice.”

The voting Thursday included long delays as voting materials didn’t arrive on time in areas where the opposition party had the most supporters. The government also shut down social media sites like Facebook and Twitter over the weekend.

“I don’t think the election was free and fair,” said Sebastian Gatimu, a researcher based in Nairobi, Kenya. “There was a lot of what you can call a need for political space for both the incumbent and the opposition leader, because the incumbent was using his power and the state resources to maneuver.”

Museveni’s major opponent, Kizza Besigye, rejected the results and accused the ruling party of rigging the election. But the opposing party lacks a stronghold in the country, in which pluralism is absent. On Friday, police attacked the opposition headquarters with tear gas and accused the party of trying to tally its own results. Authorities arrested Besigye for the third time and placed him on house arrest. His fourth arrest took place today as he tried to break his house arrest.

Museveni came to power in 1986 after the overthrow of dictator Idi Amin. A number of constitutional amendments kept him in power until 2005, when he finally got rid of term limits. Museveni still has his supporters, but many are ready for change.

“Over time, you kind of degrade in terms of your vision and ideas for a country,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Program at Chatham House.

Leaders in other African countries have made similar moves. On Feb. 2, President Idriss Déby of Chad announced his bid to run for a fifth term in office, ironically promising to restore the country’s term limits. But in some cases, the public’s anger with political stagnancy has resulted in violent outbursts. In Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term last April sparked protests and widespread killings. In July, Nkurunziza amended the constitution and began his third term. But the country still remains in political unrest, and a human rights group recently accused security officials of killing and burying civilians in mass graves.

So far, the international community has condemned Uganda’s electoral process and is urging people to follow the right process if they wish to dispute the outcome.

“The Ugandan people deserve better,” U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said. “We encourage those who wish to contest the election results to do so peacefully and in accordance with Uganda’s law and judicial process.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.