Ugandans voted for their preferred leaders Thursday, January 15, amid an internet shutdown by President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

Museveni, who is seeking his seventh term in office, cast his vote mid-day at Kaaro Secondary School in Kiruhura District, western Uganda, although he himself encountered mishaps with Biometric Voter Verification Kit machines.

When he turned up to cast his vote, the BVVK machine did not identify him outrightly, as his fingerprints failed. Nonetheless, he was able to be identified using facial recognition.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote, the 81-year-old head of state exuded confidence in trouncing his opponents, more specifically the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Robert Kyagulani popularly known as Bobi Wine.

Museveni said he was expecting to win 80% of the votes cast, but “if there’s no cheating”.

This year, Museveni tailored his re-election campaigns to the slogan “protecting the gains”, which advocated for Ugandans to maintain the status quo. He also pledged to steer Uganda into middle-income status while maintaining peace.

While Museveni has a stranglehold amond the older generation, Bobi Wine has appealed to young Ugandans who are striving for leadership change, with the hope that the change will also come with economic opportunities.

Polling stations opened early in the morning, and after widespread failure of BVVK machines across the landlocked country, the Electoral Commission directed its officers to revert to manual voting.

Apart from Bobi Wine, Museveni has six other opponents, including; Mugisha Muntu Oyera of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Joseph Elton Mabirizi of the Conservative Party (CP), Robert Kasibante of the National Peasants Party, Mubarak Munyagwa Sserunga of the Common Man’s Party (CMP), and Frank Bulira Kabinga of the Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP).