20 February 2016•Update: 25 February 2016
By Halima Athumani
KAMPALA, Uganda
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has appealed to President Yoweri Museveni to reign in police and security forces as Ugandans wait to receive the final results of the Feb 18 elections.
According to the U.S. mission in Uganda Kerry called the Ugandan president, who is currently leading in the polls, regarding the ongoing violence and excessive use of force in the presidential election.
In a tweet, the U.S. mission in Kampala says Kerry “urged Museveni to end block on social media and mobile money sites immediately”. All such services were blocked early morning when polls for presidential, parliamentary and local elections opened Thursday.
The U.S. secretary of state also “expressed concern” to Museveni about what he described as detentions and harassment of opposition party members.
Kerry noted that: “Actions by police and the security forces call into question Uganda's commitment to transparent and credible elections.”
A few hours after the call, opposition leader Kizza Besigye -- detained in Nagalama police station outside Kampala -- was driven to his home in Kasangati, north of the capital, to be placed under house arrest.
After his release Besigye told journalists he was released without any charge and maintains he was doing nothing wrong. “I will continue to monitor the vote counting process,” he said.
Besigye was arrested Friday at his Forum for Democratic Change’s HQ together with three party officials. The U.S. embassy said “disproportionate force” was used in his detention.
In the seventh set of provisional results, Museveni maintains a lead of 61.04 percent which could see him extend his presidency to 35 years.
Museveni came to power in January 1986 after a protracted five-year bush war against the rule of then president Milton Obote.
Electoral Commission Chairman Badru Kiggundu announcing results Saturday morning put Museveni’s votes at 4,549,148 closely followed by FDC candidate Besigye at 34.94 percent with 2,603,880 votes.
Other candidates are trailing far behind the leading pair.
Votes casts are from 21, 254 polling stations out of 28,010. Valid votes stand at 7,451,725; invalid votes were 371,012, representing 4.74 percent.
Total votes cast are at 7,822,737, representing a 51.21 percent turnout.
Final votes are expected in at 4:00 p.m. local time [1300 GMT] as results trickle in from different parts of the country.
