Museveni comfortably ahead in poll

Counting got underway in Uganda on Tuesday after Monday’s presidential election with the incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni, headed for a relatively easy victory after a tougher than expected campaign, news organisations reported. With preliminary results in from 50 percent of the country’s 214 constituencies, Museveni was leading with more than 60 percent of the vote, Associated Press (AP) quoted Information Minister Basoga Nsadhu as saying. The independent ‘Monitor’ newspaper said its compilation of results from polling stations around the country indicated that Museveni was ahead with 62 percent of the vote while his main challenger Kizza Besigye had 35 percent. Museveni needed to win 50 percent of the vote in order to avoid a run-off. Turnout was reported to be high - possibly around 70 percent, according to the BBC - in the poll, the result of which must be reported by Wednesday afternoon under Ugandan law. Besigye complained to the chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Aziz Kasujja, about incidents of “electoral irregularities, intimidation and violence in six districts”, AP reported on Tuesday. There were sustained reports of voter intimidation, electoral irregularities and rigging in the course of the presidential campaign but the polling itself was not beset by irregularities or anticipated incidents of violence as had been feared, according to media reports.