Nairobi — Uganda's General Election was marred by technical setbacks after bio-metric voter registration machines malfunctioned in several parts of the country, delaying the voting process by hours.
The Electoral Commission was compelled to suspend bio-metric verification and rely on manual voter registers to allow polling to begin.
"The commission hereby directs all returning officers that where a BVR or kit fails to start or to function, the voting process should commence immediately using the national voters register in accordance with the electoral laws and guidelines so as not to disenfranchise any voter."
"In the meantime, the electoral commission's technical teams are actively responding to and addressing the reported technical challenges wherever they can." the poll agency chairman said
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President Yoweri Museveni ordered investigations into the failure after the bio-metric system failed to recognize his thumbprint at his polling station. He was eventually cleared to vote through facial recognition.
"I congratulate Ugandans for getting up early this morning because I was I was follow I was following by five six people were up. Now they had a problem of these voter verification machines. They are working because I voted by it as you saw. You were all there. First of all it did not accept my fingerprints because I think maybe when they took them they had a different angle if you don't put them properly. But when they put my face you saw the machine recognised me," he observed.
Museveni, Africa's longest-serving leader, is seeking a seventh term in office.
"If there is no cheating, I expect to win by 80%. That is why we have to stop ballot stuffing the other time it was they said 58% was much more than that has been all the time winning above 70% from 1996 if we don't stop the distort the figure," the NRM candidate said.
21.7 million registered voters spread across 50,739 polling stations will have an opportunity to pick six other presidential candidates to lead the country for the next five years.
During the campaign, Museveni cast himself as the sole guarantor of stability and progress in Uganda while National Unity Platform's Bobi Wine, who is banking on the youthful population to get to power, has promised to tackle corruption and impose sweeping reforms.
Ugandans will also choose a new Parliament, with 353 constituency seats and 146 District Woman Representative seats up for grabs, alongside a wide range of local government positions and councilors.
This comes amid the suspension of internet access ahead of voting day, as Uganda's Communications Commission said the blackout was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence.
Polls are due to close at 4 pm on Thursday, although the electoral commission has indicated that anyone in the queue at this time will be allowed to cast their votes.
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The results of the presidential vote are expected to be announced within about 48 hours after polling closes.
