Museveni spends $7m on election campaign in just 2 months - report

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has spent at least Shs27 billion (over $7m) on his 2016 election campaign in only two months, a report says.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

According to Daily Monitor, this amount was 12 times more than what his two main opposition rivals - combined - had spent. 

Go Forward presidential candidate, Amama Mbabazi, came in second, having spent Shs3.3 billion, while Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) candidate Kizza Besigye had spent Shs967 million.


The preliminary study was funded by Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) and conducted by Alliance for Campaign Finance Monitoring (ACFIM), the report said.

Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) defended the amount the party had spent, saying it had held "unique activities".

When asked where they received the funds, NRM spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said: "The party received money from the electoral commission. We also fund raise and get support from volunteers."
Uganda is set to elect its next president on February 18.

A newly-released opinion poll this week predicted that Museveni would win 51% of the votes.
According to the poll, Besigye was in second position with 32%, with Mbabazi at 12%.