At least seven people have been killed as Uganda’s presidential election was engulfed by violence.
The country’s elections this month have been marred by clashes and look set to extend President Yoweri Museveni’s rule into a fifth decade.
Police claim that in the early hours of last night, machete-wielding “goons” were shot dead by security forces in the central town of Butambala.
Those killed were supporters of opposition leader Bobi Wine – who is trailing in the polls and looks set for a landslide defeat.
Authorities claim the mob had attacked a polling station and a police station at around 3am.
Local police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe said the armed group “came in big numbers” and security forces had acted in self defence.
“Police fired in self defence”, she told Reuters, adding that 25 people had been arrested.
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But supporters of Wine dispute the narrative.
MP Muwanga Kivumbi argues that those killed were unarmed and shot dead inside his house.
He described the scenes as a “massacre” – claiming the number of people killed was as high as 10.
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Mr Kivumbi said: “There were people inside the garage who were waiting for the results to celebrate my victory.
“They broke the front door and began shooting inside the garage.
“It was a massacre.”
He said security forces had earlier dispersed crowds outside but disputed the police’s assertion that the deaths occurred outdoors.
It is still unknown exactly how many were killed, nor have the circumstances of their deaths been verified.
Africa correspondent
Votes are being counted in Uganda today and the capital Kampala feels like a war-zone.
There’s a full military deployment in the city – we’ve seen people targeted and tracked down by snatch squads.
This is what people have been telling us they’re worried about – in the process of their votes being counted, there would be suppression.
All around us there are these billboards of President Museveni’s face and his campaign slogan: “Protecting the gains”.
It marks a violent end to an election campaign that has been plagued by allegations of voter suppression.
Sky’s Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir reported seeing snatch squads picking people up and bundling them into the back of armoured trucks as people registered their vote.
Images show heavily armed security forces as they patrol the capital of Kampala.
Litter is strewn across the street and officers can be seen watching on as fires rage across the city.
Meanwhile, Museveni looks set to cling onto power. Preliminary results announced by the electoral commission showed he was set for a landslide with more than 75% of votes.
Wine, who was a popular singer before entering politics, trails on around 21%.
He has alleged mass fraud during the election, which took place under an internet blackout.
His party, the National Unity Platform (NUP) party posted to X late on Thursday that the government was “effectively placing him under house arrest” after beating him at the polls – something national police said they were unaware of.
Museveni told reporters after casting his ballot on Thursday that he expected to win with 80% of the vote “if there’s no cheating”.
The dictator seized power in 1986 after a bloody civil war and has held on to power since.
