Uganda's Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking to annul last month's presidential elections.
The petition, brought by the runner-up in the elections Mr Kizza Besigye, had argued that the elections had been manipulated by President Yoweri Museveni, who won easily with nearly 70 percent of the vote.
But, after nearly two weeks of hearings which ended on April 13, the Supreme Court ruled the election result should stand.
Mr Besigye had accused President Museveni of interfering in the election process, arguing his agents had intimidated opposition supporters and bribed voters, charges the president denied.
He also accused the Electoral Commission of allowing ballot boxes to be stuffed and failing to display the full electoral roll.
The Supreme Court found that the Electoral Commission did not comply to the letter with the Presidential Elections Act, and said there was evidence of cheating and lack of transparency in some parts of the country.
But by majority of three-to-two, the court ruled that these did not substantially affect the election result.
It also ruled by the same margin that Mr Museveni and his agents did not commit illegal acts that would invalidate the election.
Mr Museveni has been in power since 1986, when his guerrilla force toppled a military government that had driven out dictator Milton Obote six months earlier.