Ugandans go to presidential polls

Ugandans are set to choose between former guerrilla leader President Yoweri Museveni and his former bush war ally in the country's general election.

At 17,147 polling stations across the country that Winston Churchill called the pearl of Africa, voters lined up to cast their ballot for one of six presidential candidates.

Museveni faces his stiffest challenge yet from Kizza Besigye, a retired army colonel running as an anti-corruption reformer.

Opinion polls show Museveni carrying between 50% and 58% of the vote but they also indicate Besigye is gaining ground. The five other candidates in the race have polled less than 5%.

Museveni must win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off and the final results are expected tomorrow.

Though largely peaceful, sporadic violence has marred the election. Between eight and 12 people have been killed in attacks by both sides, though more Besigye supporters have been killed or injured.

Museveni took up arms in 1981 after he lost a clearly rigged presidential election to dictator Milton Obote in December 1980.

After a five-year bush war, Museveni and his National Resistance Movement took power and restored order. He was elected president in 1996 under a new constitution for the first of two terms allowed.

After 15 years in power, Museveni has turned Uganda from a synonym for state-sponsored violence and chaos to a shining example in Africa.

The economy has grown at an average of 6% a year, and he was one of the first leaders to recognise the Aids epidemic, reducing the infection rate from 28% to 10% in 10 years with an aggressive prevention campaign. Besigye, 44, emerged in November as an outspoken critic of the corruption and complacency he says has taken over the Movement, Museveni's revolutionary organisation.