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Millions of Ugandans braved cold weather and heavy rains Thursday to cast their votes in the country's first multiparty elections in 20 years, choosing a parliament and a president from five candidates, while the contest is thought to be between the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni and main challenger Kizza Besigye.

In the capital Kampala, voters lined in the cool and drippy weather to cast their ballots at polling stations, which opened by 7:00 AM (04:00 GMT) and closed at 5:00 PM (14:00 GMT) as arranged by Uganda's Electoral Commission, although a few polling stations didn't start to operate until at around 10:00 AM due to delays in the delivery of election materials.

In the afternoon, heavy rains in some parts of Uganda have disrupted the voting exercise for almost an hour. However, at Kampala's Community Flats polling station, voters didn't seemed to care too much about the downpour.

"I am really happy I can exercised my constitutional mandate of choosing the leader under a multi-party system," said Kamya George, standing under the eave of a flat while a cool drizzle turns rapidly to a drenching shower.

George, along with several dozens of voters, chose to stick around at the Community Flats polling station up to the closing time to witness the ballots counting procedure.

According to the Election Community, an estimated 10 million voters turned up to vote on Thursday to elect a president and 284 MPs in the first multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections since political parties were banned in Uganda 20 years ago.

In the polling station of Ugandan Management Institute, 440 voters turned out to cast ballots compared to the 719 registered, while in another polling station in the community flats, a 63 percentage turnout was counted.

The government has already declared Thursday a public holiday and security has been tightened to ensure a smooth and peaceful election.

About 40,000 local and international observers -- including those from the African Union, the European Union and the Commonwealth -- were around the country to monitor Thursday's elections.

A total of five candidates contested in the presidential election. Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni is favorite to win the ballot, according to a recent poll that gave him 50 percent of votes compared to 33 percent for his main challenger Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.

The others are Mayor of Kampala John Ssebaana Kizito of the Democratic Party, Miria Kalule Obote of the Uganda People's Congress, and independent candidate Abed Bwanika.

President Yoweri Museveni is running for re-election to extend his 20 years in power after parliament voted last year to scrap term limits that would have ended his presidency.

Besigye, 49, Museveni's former doctor and one-time ally, enjoyed a solid support among the young and in cities. Last week, the Ugandan High Court adjourned his treason trial until after the presidential elections while the military court also dropped his trial, giving a boost to the challenger's campaign.

Richard Shibaale, a Kampala resident who stood first in the line to cast his ballot at a polling station of community flats, said he voted for Kizza Besigye, because "we want a change."

Grace Abiong, a tailor whose husband is a policeman, also said at the nearby Uganda Management Institute polling station that she had also chosen Besigye. "I found life is getting difficult these years. So I hope this man can listen to our problems," she said.

But an IT professional who only identified himself as Edgar, made a different choice. "I still chose Museveni. Changes are needed, but not on the candidates. We can work with the incumbent to change our country."

The relative peace of the election has so far surprised many who feared a return to violence after Museveni's main rival in the election, Kizza Besigye, was charged with treason and rape in November.
 
However, there were still several incidents reported around the east African country as some international institutes have feared.

At least seven people, all supporters of the opposition Forum for Democratic Changes (FDC) party, have been arrested in eastern Uganda for "violating" Thursday's general elections, the district Police commander Chris Barugahare was quoted by the Uganda state radio as saying.

Also, in the war-ravaged north, a fighter with the Lord's Resistance Army rebels who attempted to attack a vehicle carrying voting materials was shot dead at the scene by the Ugandan army on the election day.

Multiparty politics was banned in Uganda almost 20 years ago following the government's concern that they were creating divisions among Ugandans. Political parties were only allowed to operate in abeyance.

But a referendum held on July 28, 2005 voted for the return of multiparty politics. The country's Movement system of government will end after Thursday's elections.

According to the EC, the outcome of votes counting is expected on Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2006)