TheCable

Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s president, has dismissed the criticisms of EU and the United States over his re-election and warned foreign observers not to lecture him.

Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, was declared the winner on Saturday but Kizza Besigye, his main challenger who was under house arrest on Sunday, called the election a sham.

Another candidate, Amama Mbabazi, said it was “fundamentally flawed”.

Eduard Kukan, chief observer, said the polls had been undermined by a “lack of transparency and independence’’ at the electoral commission.

Similarly, the US also criticised the handling of the vote and raised concerns about the house arrest of Besigye, who was in detention for the fourth time in a week, and alleged that his electronic communication had been blocked.

John Kerry, US secretary of state, called Museveni on Friday to voice concerns over the harassment of opposition figures and the shutdown of social media in Uganda, where Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, have faced outages since Election Day.

But Museveni, 71, dismissed the idea that the commission had favoured him and his National Resistance Movement (NRM).

“They are wrong, they are not serious,” Museveni told newsmen in his country home in Kiruhura, southwestern Uganda.

“I told those Europeans that I don’t need lectures from anybody. Mr John Kerry rang me and I told him not to worry, we’re experts in managing our elections things.”

Museveni has presided over strong economic growth but is accused at home and abroad of repression of dissenting opinions and failing to tackle rampant corruption.

Critics also say he wants to rule the nation of 37 million people for life, emulating other African leaders who refuse to give up power.

Museveni last clashed with Western donors in 2014 when Uganda passed a law imposing harsh penalties on homosexuality. Several EU countries and the US cut aid, imposed visa restrictions and cancelled a regional military exercise.

In total, more than $100 million in aid was halted or redirected – the development was a significant blow for Uganda that depends on foreign aid for about 20 per cent of its budget.