President Yoweri Museveni has been declared the winner of the 2026 presidential election in Uganda.
The 81-year-old Museveni, who first assumed office in 1986, exceeded the required threshold by scoring more than half of all votes cast.
The announcement extends Museveni’s rule beyond three decades following a closely contested poll conducted amid an internet shutdown and restrictions placed on civil society organisations.
The declaration was made on Saturday by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Simon Byabakama, who disclosed that the incumbent president secured more than 7.9 million votes, the highest tally recorded among all contestants.
The commission stated that Museveni, who came into power in 1986, surpassed the constitutional requirement by polling more than half of the total votes cast in the election.
He said, “Having obtained the highest number of votes in the election and the votes cast in his favour being more than 50 per cent of the total valid votes cast at the election, the Commission hereby declares Candidate Yoweri Museveni as the winner of the election.”
According to official results released by the electoral body, a total of 11.4 million voters took part in Thursday’s poll, representing a voter turnout of 52.50 per cent of registered voters nationwide.
