Post date: Feb 20, 2011 3:50:57 PM
The Ugandan Electoral Commission declares President Museveni the winner of Friday's poll and urges losers to "accept the outcome honourably."
KAMPALA, UGANDA (FEBRUARY 20, 2011) REUTERS - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, one of Africa's longest serving leaders, won election to a fourth term in office by a huge margin on Sunday (February 20) but the opposition rejected the outcome.
Electoral commission results handed Museveni 68 percent of the vote against challenger Kizza Besigye's 26 percent.However, European Union (EU) election observers said that what they called an unnecessary military presence on voting day had created an uneasy, intimidating feeling.
"I thank all the candidates for having participated in this exercise, congratulate all the parliamentary candidates who have been declared as winners and I urge the losers to accept the outcome honourably," Badru Kiggundu, chairman of the Electoral Commission of Uganda, said in a statement.
"The electoral commission declares Yoweri Kaguta Museveni elected president of the republic of Uganda on the presidential elections held on the 18th day of February, 2011," Badru Kiggundu declared.
The Ugandan opposition have rejected results from an election which the EU Mission of observers said left many voters disenfranchised.
The main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, had warned that his supporters would take to the streets if they lost as a result of polling irregularities.
Besigye told a news conference later in the day that he rejected the results saying polling agents had been bribed.
A Reuters witness said there was a heightened security presence in the capital, Kampala. Soldiers and police patrolled on foot and in armoured personnel carriers, and riot police were ferried around in trucks and riot control vehicles.
Sporadic celebrations erupted in the city as scores of cars with speakers pumping out music and plastered with signs reading "Thank you. Pakalast" drove around the streets. "Pakalast", Museveni's campaign slogan, means "Until the end".
Many Ugandans complain their country is riddled with corruption and lacks investment in public services and infrastructure. Others respect Museveni for restoring stability and overseeing a period of sustained economic growth in a country previously plagued by despots such as Idi Amin.