US slaps visa bans on Ugandans linked to disputed polls

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Uganda’s election process was ‘neither free nor fair’.

The United States has said it is imposing visa restrictions on “those believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic process in Uganda”, including during an election in January and the campaign period. President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, secured a sixth term in the January 14 poll garnering 58.6 percent of the votes. His closest challenger Bobi Wine, who secured 34.8 percent of the votes, disputed the tally and alleged fraud. “Opposition candidates were routinely harassed, arrested, and held illegally without charge. Ugandan security forces were responsible for the deaths and injuries of dozens of innocent bystanders and opposition supporters,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday, adding that the election process was “neither free nor fair”.