President Yoweri Museveni has attributed the opposition’s performance in the 2026 presidential election to low voter turnout among supporters of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), arguing that a fully mobilised party base would leave no room for serious political competition.
Speaking on Sunday at his country home in Rwakitura, a day after being declared winner by the Electoral Commission, Museveni claimed that close to 10 million NRM members did not vote in the January 15 polls. The NRM says it has more than 21 million members nationwide, with about 18 million of them eligible to vote.
Museveni was declared winner after securing 7.9 million votes, representing 71.65 per cent of the total ballots cast. His main challenger, National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, garnered 2.7 million votes, or 24.72 per cent.
According to the Electoral Commission, voter turnout stood at 52.5 per cent of the country’s 21.6 million registered voters.
The president suggested that a significant number of the nearly 300,000 invalid ballots may have come from NRM supporters and said the party would investigate why many of its members failed to participate in the election. He credited his victory to what he described as a renewed focus on the party’s core values of peace, national unity and economic recovery.
Drawing parallels with the 1996 elections, Museveni said voters then backed the NRM because it had restored security and ended widespread abuses. He argued that similar concerns about peace are now shaping political attitudes, particularly in northern and eastern Uganda.
Museveni also warned against political instability, citing Libya as an example of a country that descended into chaos. He claimed that during private meetings with some opposition figures on January 13, they expressed fears about Uganda’s future stability.
Kyagulanyi has rejected the election results, which were announced amid a nationwide internet shutdown and reports of failures in biometric voter verification. On Saturday, he said he had temporarily left his home due to a heavy security deployment. By Sunday evening, his whereabouts had not been disclosed.
The opposition leader has previously dismissed Museveni’s claims that the opposition is seeking to destabilise the country, saying the president is relying on misleading intelligence.
Museveni, who has been in power since 1986 after leading a five-year guerrilla war, is expected to be sworn in for his new term in May.
