The Church of Uganda’s primate, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, joined other civic leaders in condemning violence and a five-day nationwide internet shutdown that marked the January 15 election that returned President Yoweri Museveni to power for an unprecedented seventh term.
The 81-year-old former rebel will have led Uganda for 45 years by the end of his new term in a country that abandoned presidential term limits in 2005. His opponent in the polls, former Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi (also known as Bobi Wine), is on the run after denouncing the results and alleging election fraud.
The Ugandan government has clamped down on dissent in recent months in an attempt to squelch demonstrations. Prominent opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye has languished in detention after he was allegedly kidnapped in neighboring Kenya.
“We urge the government to review the use of blanket communication restrictions during elections and to pursue approaches that protect national security without undermining civic trust and electoral accountability,” Kaziimba said during the January 20 release of the election observation report by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, which he leads.
The “restrictions on internet access during the electoral period,” he added, “limited transparency, coordination, and independent verification.”
Decrying the low participation of voters age 18 to 35 in Ugandan urban centers, including the capital Kampala, the primate challenged the country’s electoral body to enhance openness in polling and results management.
“Greater safeguards are required at the counting, transmission, and tallying stages. Discrepancies between polling station declarations and aggregated results undermine the transparency of the outcome, even where legal remedies exist,” he said.
He averred that “returning officers who are found guilty of tampering and altering results should be held accountable and dismissed from public office in public interest.”
Heavy-handedness from the security forces also came under scrutiny. “While the prevention of violence is critical, a heavy or intrusive presence around polling stations risks suppressing participation and creating fear among voters,” he said.
“Security deployment during elections should be guided by proportionality, neutrality, and restraint,” he said, adding that “they bear the responsibility to refrain from actions that heighten tensions at polling stations or during tallying.”
It is unclear how this call will be received by General Muhoozi Kainerubaga, chief of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, who has boasted about the killing of 22 “terrorists” from Kyagulanyi’s National Unity Platform since last week. The head of the national armed forces is also openly praying that “Kabobi” (Mr. Kyagulanyi) becomes his next kill.
A scion of the Museveni family, Kainerubaga appears to have deactivated his X account amid a public uproar.
While Kaziimba tries to rally Uganda’s political actors to resolve their electoral differences peacefully and lawfully, Kyagulanyi has already vowed not to challenge Museveni’s victory in court, claiming that the country’s judiciary is compromised.
Kaziimba, who pioneered the Church of Uganda’s peace campaign ahead of the contested polls, has also led the IRCU in visiting and praying with Kyagulanyi’s family, which remains under house arrest in Kampala.
Jesse Masai is TLC’s East Africa correspondent, a longtime journalist and communications professional who has worked in South East Asia and the U.S., as well as in his native Kenya.
