2001 Ugandan presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Uganda on 12 March 2001. The incumbent Yoweri Museveni won 69% of the vote and was elected to a second term. All candidates were independents, as political parties were banned at the time. Voter turnout was 70.3%.

2001 Ugandan presidential election

12 March 2001
Registered	10,775,836
Turnout	70.31%
Candidate Yoweri Museveni Kizza Besigye Party Independent Independent Popular vote 5,123,360 2,055,795 Percentage 69.33% 27.82%
Results by district Museveni:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Besigye:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%
President before election Yoweri Museveni Independent Elected President Yoweri Museveni Independent

Candidates

Yoweri Museveni was running for his second term in office in 2001. He took power in 1986 after winning a guerrilla war against President Tito Okello. Museveni's main rival was four-time rival Kizza Besigye, who was Museveni's personal physician and a military officer who broke ties with the NRM government in 2001.

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Yoweri Museveni	Independent	5,123,360	69.33
	Kizza Besigye	Independent	2,055,795	27.82
	Aggrey Awori	Independent	103,915	1.41
	Kibirige Mayanja	Independent	73,790	1.00
	Francis Bwengye	Independent	22,751	0.31
	Karuhanga Chapaa	Independent	10,080	0.14
Total			7,389,691	100.00
Valid votes			7,389,691	97.54
Invalid/blank votes			186,453	2.46
Total votes			7,576,144	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			10,775,836	70.31
Source: African Elections Database

Post-election events

Besigye did not concede the race but instead requested a formal vote recount on the basis of voter fraud. Museveni also claimed that there was a "rigging" of the vote, albeit in Besigye's favour; he also remarked that he should have won 75% of the vote instead. The independent election watchdog Election Monitoring Group found voter fraud to be minimal. The same day after results were announced, a pipe bomb exploded in downtown Kampala, killing one woman; a similar explosion occurred on a minibus headed towards the capital, injuring three people. However, it was not immediately clear if the explosions were related to the presidential election. In a majority decision, the Supreme Court of Uganda subsequently rejected Besigye's petition for a recount. Shortly after being elected to a second term as president, Museveni pledged to step down before the next election but subsequently walked back on his promise.