[5] The European Union and United States have since criticised the election for lack of transparency and detentions of opposition candidates.

[1] Four candidates were from a generation called the Bush War revolutionaries, and were part of the guerrilla armies that toppled the previous government in 1986.

Besigye was Museveni's personal physician and a military officer who broke ties with the NRM government in 2001.

Amama Mbabazi, a former Prime minister of Uganda and a founding member of the NRM, ran against the incumbent president under the Go Forward ticket.

[18] Though it was Bwanika's third time running for the presidency, he had failed to rally much support for his previous campaigns.

[19] The debate took place at the Serena Hotel in Kampala and was led by BBC Newsday presenter Alan Kasujja and KTN journalist Nancy Kacungira.

Topics such as Uganda's growing national debt, corruption, education and job creation were at the centre of all candidates' manifestos.

The debate was moderated by Dr. Shaka Ssali, who is a host of VOA's Straight Talk Africa, Dr. Joel Serunkuma Kibazo, the director of communications and external relations at the African Development Bank, and Dr. Suzie Muwanga, the head of political science and public administration at Makerere University.

Many observers believed that post-election demonstrations will occur and many protests will be under the risk of state sanctioned violence.