Ugandans will vote on Thursday in the East African nation’s first multi-party polls for 20 years. Some 10.5 m Ugandans are registered to vote in simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections; results are due within 48 hours of polls closing, probably on Saturday.

Recent political history Uganda became independent from Britain on October 9, 1962 under Milton Obote. A coup led by Idi Amin toppled Obote in 1971 and ushered in a bloody era until a Tanzanian invasion ousted him in 1979. Yoweri Museveni led a five-year guerrilla revolt against a second Obote government, before seizing power in 1986. Mr Museveni banned multi-party politics the same year, blaming parties for spreading sectarian hatred and leading Uganda into disaster in the 1970s under the late dictator Idi Amin.