KAMPALA, March 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Uganda's Electoral Commission (EC) has released the final results of the first multiparty presidential elections, showing slight changes in the votes garnered by the incumbent Yoweri Museveni and his main rival Kizza Besigye.

    The final tally gave Museveni 4,109,449 votes, 1,515,495 votes ahead of runner-up Besigye, according to the results quoted by local media Thursday.

    By percentage, Museveni's had a slight fall to 59.26 percent from the provisional 59.28 percent.

    Besigye's votes stood at 2,592,954 up from 2,570,603, showing a slight up from 37.36 percent to 37.39 percent, the EC said.

    Besigye, the candidate of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), lodged a petition in the Supreme Court this week, challenging Museveni's victory, saying the elections were not free and fair.

    The outcome for other three candidates also changed slightly with Ssebaana Kizito's 109,538 votes from 108,951, Abed Bwanika's 65,874 from 65,345, and Miria Kalule Obote's 57,071 from 56,674.

    With the total number of registered voters standing at 10,450,788, the overall voter turnout was 7,230,456 or 69.19 percent, out of which 295,525 or 4.09 percent cast invalid votes.

    Badru Kiggundu, head of the electoral body, ruled out a repeat of local polls across the country as demanded by Ssebaana. "We have fulfilled our constitutional obligation," he said.

    He also condemned the violence during the elections for division chairpersons and councilors in Kampala city on March 10 and said the commission was working with the police to bring the perpetrators to book quickly.

    Kiggundu said any election dispute should be taken to court "for purposes of peace and civility", appealing to the winners to fulfill their promises and incorporate the positive aspects of thelosers' manifestos into their work plans.

    On complaints that the transparent ballot boxes were weak and had no seals, he said they were "appropriately built for purposes of elections and are used in many parts of the world." Enditem