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Bobi Wine’s campaign team said the opposition leader and his entire support team had been arrested in Kalangala, a district near Lake Victoria, while seeking support for their attempt to impeach veteran President Yoweri Museveni on January 14. .
FILE: Ugandan musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi (C), also known as Bobi Wine, raises his arm as he walks to court in Inganga on November 19, 2020. Image: AFP.
KAMPALA – Ugandan police on Wednesday denied arresting presidential hopeful Bobi Wine as he tried to campaign ahead of next month’s tense elections, saying the singer-turned-deputy had instead been “restrained” and returned home.
Wine’s campaign team said the opposition leader and his entire support team had been arrested in Kalangala, a district near Lake Victoria, while seeking support for their attempt to remove veteran President Yoweri Museveni on January 14.
Police accused Wine’s party of making “false claims” about the incident, saying that campaign workers had been arrested for inciting violence, but that the candidate was not registered.
“We would like to clarify that the candidate was restricted for holding continuous mass demonstrations amid growing threats from the coronavirus, in total disregard for the guidelines of the electoral commission and the health ministry,” the police said in a statement on Twitter.
He was being “transferred to his home” in Kampala, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, police added.
Wine, who has campaigned on a platform to end Museveni’s absolute rule over power in Uganda for 35 years, has been arrested numerous times during hearings and placed under house arrest for alleged violations of electoral rules.
His rallies, which often draw large crowds, have been broken up with tear gas, riot police and live rounds, and Wine has started wearing a bulletproof vest and armored helmet on the campaign trail.
In November, security forces shot and killed at least 54 people over two days for protesting Wine’s arrest, according to an official balance sheet.
Museveni, who took power at the head of a rebel army in 1986 and has ruled uninterruptedly ever since, described most of those killed as rioters.
Opposition activists have complained that Museveni has been allowed to speak to large crowds without apparent breaches of coronavirus regulations, while similar demonstrations by Wine supporters have been violently shut down.
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