KAMPALA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won his seventh term with 71.65 percent of votes, according to official results Saturday, defeating the youthful challenger who campaigned for change after four decades of the same government.
The musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine took 24.72 percent of the vote, the final results showed. Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, is expected to reject the official outcome. He has condemned what he described as an unfair electoral process, marred by an Internet shutdown, military deployments and the alleged abductions of his polling agents.
Electoral officials also face questions about the failure of biometric voter identification machines on Thursday, which caused delays in the start of voting in urban areas — including the capital, Kampala — that are opposition strongholds.
After the machines failed, in a blow to pro-democracy activists who have long demanded their use to curb rigging, polling officials used manual registers of voters. The failure of the machines is likely to be the basis for any legal challenges to the official result.
Earlier Saturday, police in Uganda denied reports that the main opposition candidate in this week’s tense election had been arrested, terming the reports as “deceitful and inciteful.”
They urged citizens to remain peaceful as the country awaits the results in the presidential vote.
Uganda held a general election on Thursday amid an Internet shutdown that has been in place for four days, with the military heavily deployed across the country and pockets of violence erupting as people protested parliamentary election results in various parts of the country.
Museveni was seeking a seventh term in office and was leading in the provisional results with more than 70 percent support. His main challenger, Wine, was holding 20 percent of the vote. He dismissed the announced results as “fake,” and asked his supporters to ignore them.
Police on Saturday said that Wine was “not under arrest,” as claimed by his National Unity Platform party. Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said Wine was free to leave his house, but there was “controlled access” for others trying to go into the property, to prevent people from using the premises to incite violence.
“It should not surprise you when we have a pickup or two near the residence of Kyagulanyi,” Rusoke said.
Ugandan electoral officials are set to announce the final presidential results on Saturday, as constitutionally required. The chairperson of the national electoral commission said Friday that everything was on course to announce the final result by the end of the day Saturday.
The voting was marred by delays due to the late delivery of materials to polling stations after opening time and the failure of some biometric machines.
President Museveni said he agreed with the electoral commission’s plan to revert to paper voter registration records, but Wine alleged fraud, claiming that there was “massive ballot stuffing” and that his party’s polling agents were abducted to give an unfair advantage to the ruling party.
The security forces were a constant presence throughout the election campaign, and Wine said authorities followed him and harassed his supporters, using tear gas against them. He campaigned in a flak jacket and helmet due to his security fears.
Wine wrote Thursday on X that he was unable to leave his house, and on Friday his party wrote that he had been arrested and taken away in an army helicopter.
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni wins seventh term with 71.65 percent of votes
https://arab.news/vpjs2
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni wins seventh term with 71.65 percent of votes
- Wine took 24.72 percent of the vote, the final results showed
- Electoral officials also face questions about the failure of biometric voter identification machines
Trump is threatening to block a new bridge between Detroit and Canada from opening
- Trump’s threat comes as the relationship between the US and Canada increasingly sours during the US president’s second term
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to block the opening of a new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River, demanding that Canada turn over at least half of the ownership of the bridge and agree to other unspecified demands in his latest salvo over cross-border trade issues.
“We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post, complaining that the United States would get nothing from the bridge and that Canada did not use US steel to built it.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge, named after a Canadian hockey star who played for the Detroit Red Wings for 25 seasons, had been expected to open in early 2026, according to information on the project’s website. The project was negotiated by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder — a Republican — and paid for by the Canadian government to help ease congestion over the existing Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel. Work has been underway since 2018.
It’s unclear how Trump would seek to block the bridge from being opened, and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment on more details. The Canadian Embassy in Washington also did not immediately return a request for comment.
Trump’s threat comes as the relationship between the US and Canada increasingly sours during the US president’s second term. The United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is up for review this year, and Trump has been taking a hard-line position ahead of those talks, including by issuing new tariff threats.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, has spoken out on the world stage against economic coercion by the United States.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, said the Canadian-funded project is a “huge boon” to her state and its economic future. “You’ll be able to move cargo from Montreal to Miami without ever stopping at a street light,” Slotkin told The Associated Press.
“So to shoot yourself in the foot and threaten the Gordie Howe Bridge means that this guy has completely lost the plot on what’s good for us versus just what’s spite against the Canadians,” Slotkin said.
Michigan, a swing state that Trump carried in both 2016 and 2024, has so far largely avoided the brunt of his second-term crackdown, which has targeted blue states with aggressive immigration raids and cuts to federal funding for major infrastructure projects.
Trump and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have also maintained an unusually cordial relationship, with the president publicly praising her during an Oval Office appearance last April. The two also shared a hug last year ahead of Trump’s announcement of a new fighter jet mission for an Air National Guard base in Michigan.
While Canada paid for the project, the bridge will be operated under a joint ownership agreement between Michigan and Canada, said Stacey LaRouche, press secretary to Whitmer.
“This is the busiest trade crossing in North America,” LaRouche said, saying the bridge was “good for Michigan workers and it’s good for Michigan’s auto industry” as well as being a good example of bipartisan and international cooperation.
“It’s going to open one way or another, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon-cutting,” LaRouche said.
Rep. Shri Thanedar, the Democratic House representative of Detroit, said blocking the bridge would be “crazy” and said Trump’s attacks on Canada weren’t good for business or jobs. “The bridge is going to help Michigan’s economy. There’s so much commerce between Michigan and Canada. They’re one of our biggest partners,” Thanedar said.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor brushed aside the president’s threat, saying she’s looking forward to the bridge’s opening later in the spring. “And I’ll be there,” Dingell said.
“That bridge is the biggest crossing in this country on the northern border. It’s jobs. It’s about protecting our economy. It was built with union jobs on both sides,” said Dingell. “It’s going to open. Canada is our ally.”
