KAMPALA — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has scored a decisive election victory to win a sixth term, the country's election commission said here Saturday.

Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6% in Thursday's election. His main rival Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8%), the Electoral Commission said in announcing the final results, according to Reuters.

Wine, meanwhile, denounced the results as fraudulent and urged citizens to reject them.

The 76-year-old Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, dismissed the allegations of fraud in an evening address to the nation, saying Thursday's election may turn out to be the "most cheating free" in Uganda's history.

The campaign was marked by a deadly crackdown by security forces on Wine, other opposition candidates and their supporters.

In the run-up to the vote local civil society groups and foreign governments questioned its credibility and transparency, after scores of requests for accreditation to monitor the election were denied.

The United States and an African election monitoring group complained of election irregularities.

Wine, a 38-year-old singer-turned-lawmaker who had rallied young Ugandans behind his call for political change, called the results a "complete fraud".

After the results were announced, many neighborhoods in normally bustling Kampala were unusually quiet as nightfall approached.

Soldiers and police who had patrolled throughout the day remained on the streets in large numbers, witnesses said. — Agencies