Museveni predicts landslide win in presidential vote

Uganda's incumbent President, Yoweri Museveni, said he was confident of a landslide win in yesterday's presidential election, after a campaign marred by allegations of bribery.

Voting was sluggish in a ballot pitching Mr Museveni – who has held power since 1986 – against his arch rival, Kizza Besigye, for the third straight election.

"We have carried out a census and we know how many homesteads support NRM [the ruling National Resistance Movement] ... and our stand is 84 per cent," Mr Museveni said after casting his vote. Mr Besigye said his party had received reports of "serious problems" during polling and would urge street protests if the incidents resulted in a fraudulent result.

He has warned that east Africa's third-largest economy is ripe for an Egypt-style uprising as the country prepares to start pumping oil next year. Mr Museveni has said he would clamp down on any protests. After casting his vote, Mr Besigye said: "We are not going back to the courts. Our people are the courts: they should decide what to do with the next elections."

In the past two elections, the Supreme Court ruled there had been rigging and violence against the opposition, though not enough to alter the result.

European Union observers said voting had so far been peaceful, but they warned that some registered voters were being turned away from polling stations and that a number of ballot boxes had been improperly sealed.