Voting delayed in multiple Uganda polling stations

Uganda

Kampala –  Polling stations in several parts of Uganda were still not open in many areas almost two hours after voting was due to start, AFP journalists and local sources said Thursday.

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is expected to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet shutdown and a police crackdown on the opposition, but faces a concerted challenge from singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, 43.AFP reporters in several parts of the capital Kampala and the border city of Jinja said voting had yet to begin by 9:00 am (0600 GMT), with reports that ballot papers had not been delivered and biometric machines used to check voters’ identities were not working.”Nobody is here to tell us what is happening,” said Abuza Monica Christine, a 56-year-old businesswoman in central Jinja.

“It is deliberate. This is a stronghold of the opposition,” she said.

But AFP reporters said there were similar problems in central parts of Kampala that were not necessarily opposition areas.

“The biometric machines are not working so we don’t know what’s going on,” said Katomgole Juma, a 48-year-old artisan waiting to vote under a huge poster of President Yoweri Museveni in central Kampala.

“Of course I am worried,” he added. “People will be upset because they won’t be certain of the result.”

It was the same situation in a poor area of the city, a stronghold of opposition leader Wine.

“I’ve been waiting for three hours without any reason given,” said Tony Kaweesi, 21.

“We want to live in a country where the rule of law is followed. I’m feeling very tired, almost losing the morale to vote.”

A ruling party official told AFP: “Some biometric machines are not working. I don’t know if it’s the internet. We have not got any information from the (electoral commission)”.

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