People in Uganda headed to the polls in a tense environment on Thursday, as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his rule into a fifth decade.

The election is taking place with the internet restricted across the country. The blackout kicked in on Tuesday to prevent the spread of "misinformation" and "incitement to violence," even though the government had repeatedy promised not to do so.

Widespread delays amid technical problems

Crowds gathered in long lines in some areas as polling station openings were delayed and voting materials were seen being delivered after the scheduled opening time.

DW's Sella Oneko was at several polling stations in the capital Kampala as people queued to vote and were told by officials that problems with the biometric machines, potentially a result of an internet outage, was delaying the process. 

"I was here around six thirty," one man said. "It is so disappointing and so disgusting, up to now it is a quarter past eight. We are on the line, as you can see. Nothing is happening."

"All the slips have to pass through the machines," another young male would-be voter explained. "If they don't pass through the machines, the votes aren't allowed. Yet the machines are now not working. So, yeah, very down, we don't know what's going on, the internet's not on. So we don't know what to do."

At another polling station in the capital, a voter said that officials ultimately decided to abandon the biometric machines to enable the lines to start moving. 

"They told us the machines refused to work. So we waited," he said. "Until someone came and said, 'let's go manual.' So we have not used the machines. They failed to work, so we have done it manually."

Who is on the ballot?

The polls will see Museveni clash with seven other candidates including longtime opponent and popular singer Bobi Wine.

Wine is a 43-year-old pop star dubbed the "Ghetto President" for his humble origins.

He has promised to end what he calls Museveni's "dictatorship" while appealing to the youth which is angry about scarce economic opportunities. Over 70% of Uganda's population is under the age of 30.

Meanwhile, Museveni — 81 and a former insurgent — campaigned on "protecting the gains" and promised to maintain peace and lift the country into middle-income status. 

Ugandans fear violence

A local newspaper ran a full-page spread on election morning advising readers to "election-proof" their homes by reinforcing doors and windows, and designating a safe room in case of unrest.

One male voter in Kampala told DW that he'd turned up early to vote in hopes of avoiding any potential trouble, only to encounter delays. 

"We wanted to vote early because we see a lot of this, deployment," he said, glancing towards law enforcement. "We are not sure of our safety, we don't know what's going on. Some of our colleagues are still home, some of them refuse to come because of the heavy deployment."

Museveni's four decades of rule have been marked with accusations of rampant security force abuses against his opponents.

The UN ‍Human Rights Office said last week that the elections were taking place amid "widespread repression and intimidation".

As in 2021, this election campaign has been marked with violence against Wine and his supporters with hundreds of them arrested in the run-up to the polls. Wine took to sporting a flak jacket at rallies, calling the election a "war" against Museveni's rule.

"We are very aware that they are planning to rig the election, to brutalize people, to kill people, and they don't want the rest of the world to see," Wine told AFP.

However, many Ugandans still prefer Museveni as they laud him for ending the country's post-independence chaos. One elderly female voter told DW she did not anticipate any dissent or violence on election day. 

"I don't expect any challenge. We are Ugandans. We have come to vote, and after voting, we go back home. And we go on the TV and we see what happens. Whatever they tell us, that's what we shall do," she said.

The president urged people to vote: "Go and vote. Anybody who wants to interfere with your freedom, I will crush them."

As of mid-morning, DW's Sella Oneko characterized the atmosphere at the polling stations she and her team had visited as "quite calm," despite the widespread technical difficulties. 

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher