Kampala, Uganda: President Museveni has accused the Uganda Police Force of negligence, alleging that failure to restrain opposition supporters allowed intimidation of National Resistance Movement (NRM) voters, leading to lower turnout among his supporters during the January 15 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Museveni made the remarks on Monday while addressing supporters during NRM Liberation Day celebrations at Kololo Independence Grounds.
The President was declared winner of the presidential race by the Electoral Commission with 7.9 million votes, representing 71.6 percent of valid votes cast. His closest challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, polled 2.7 million votes (24.7 percent) and has since rejected the results.
Addressing the NRM faithful, Museveni said the ruling party commands support from about 18 million Ugandans, with 14 million registered voters, yet only about eight million turned out to vote for him.
“I got eight million votes. Where are my six million votes?” Museveni asked. “That means some of our people did not turn up. If they had turned up, there would be no opposition in Uganda.”
He attributed the gap to alleged intimidation by opposition supporters, which he said went unchecked due to police inaction.
“We are going to study it, but I think there are two reasons,” Museveni said. “Number one is the opposition threatening violence, and then the police doing nothing about it. People misbehaving and nobody does anything about them.”
The President further alleged that some NRM supporters were attacked during the election period and accused police of failing to intervene.
“Why should you attack anybody because of elections? What right do you have even to use harsh words?” Museveni said. “The opposition used abusive language against NRM supporters, accusing them of enabling someone to cling to power. Why would the police hear this and keep quiet? That is why some people did not turn up.”
The 2026 general elections were conducted amid a total internet shutdown and a heavy security crackdown on opposition supporters, developments that have attracted international attention.
The European Union has condemned the post-election crackdown, while several members of the United States Senate have urged President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces and Museveni’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Muhoozi has publicly warned that he would retaliate should sanctions be imposed on him or other Ugandan officials.
Meanwhile, Kyagulanyi, who is reportedly in hiding, has appealed to regional and international actors to apply pressure on Museveni’s government.
The United States has previously imposed sanctions on Ugandan officials, including former Chief of Military Intelligence Abel Kandiho and Speaker of Parliament Anita Among.
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