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Bobi Wine says soldiers have stormed his home as Uganda counts vote

<span>Photograph: Jérôme Delay/AP</span>
Photograph: Jérôme Delay/AP

Soldiers have stormed the home of Bobi Wine, the Ugandan opposition leader has said, as votes continued to be counted in the country’s election.

“We are under siege,” the pop star turned politician tweeted. “The military has jumped over the fence and has now taken control of our home.”

President Yoweri Museveni has taken an early lead as votes are counted in Uganda’s most keenly watched election in years, while opposition figures said the vote had been marred by fraud and violence.

With a third of the votes counted, Museveni had more than 65% of the tallied ballots and was ahead of Wine in almost every region. Wine, one of 10 opposition challengers, had gained about a quarter of the vote, according to Uganda’s electoral body.

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Wine, who has galvanised a mass movement of young people challenging the president’s 34-year rule, said at a press conference on Friday morning that Ugandans should reject the results.

“I am very confident that we defeated the dictator by far,” he said. “The people of Uganda voted massively for change of leadership from a dictatorship to a democratic government. But Mr Museveni is trying to paint a picture that he is in the lead.”

Results are expected to be announced by Saturday. A candidate must win more than 50% to avoid a runoff vote.

Helicopters and tanks were on patrol as millions went to the polls on Thursday following one of the most turbulent and violent election campaigns. Wine’s rejection of the results could prolong heightened tensions in the east African country.

Election officials count the ballots after polls closed in Kampala on Thursday
Election officials count the ballots after polls closed in Kampala on Thursday. Photograph: Jérôme Delay/AP

Security forces loyal to Museveni violently suppressed opposition supporters during the campaign. Museveni’s bid for a sixth term in power was only made possible when MPs changed the constitution to remove age limits. He has repeatedly accused Wine of being a foreign-backed “traitor”, while Wine has branded him a “dictator”.

Many in Africa see the challenge to Museveni, who at 76 is twice as old as Wine, as emblematic of a continent-wide generational struggle between ageing leaders who refuse to relinquish power and younger voters mobilising against them.

Related: Bobi Wine: the reggae singer vying to be Uganda’s next president

The charismatic Wine has the backing of many young people in Uganda – where the median age is 15.7 – who are drawn to his anti-establishment message.

Many observers have expressed fears of state-backed moves to prevent transparency during the polls. On Wednesday night internet access was cut off for most users in the east African country, though some have used VPNs to communicate online. Uganda’s electoral commission said the lack of internet access had not affected the tallying of the count from around the country.

After polls closed on Thursday, hundreds of Wine supporters in Kampala returned to their polling stations to heed his call to “protect the vote” by watching the count. At the station where Wine had voted, security forces chased his supporters away.

Isabella Akiteng, a civil society activist, said late on Thursday that she and 29 others who were observing the polls had been arrested at a hotel in Kampala and were being interrogated by police.

On Wednesday, the US and EU said they would not observe the elections, after several officials were denied accreditation.