THE residence of Ugandan opposition leader and presidential candidate of the National Unity Platform, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has been surrounded by police and military officers for staging a protest.
This is contained in a series of tweets on Wine’s official Twitter handle @HEBobiwine on Monday morning, an hour after he revealed he had been arrested by the police.
In his initial tweet, Wine announced that he had been arrested, among other protesters, by officials of the Ugandan police.
“Bobi Wine arrested as he led MPs and other leaders in a peaceful protest against the abduction, torture and murder of his supporters. The protest was taking place at City Square, Kampala,” the tweet read.
Bobi Wine arrested as he led MPs and other leaders in a peaceful protest against the abduction, torture and murder of his supporters. The protest was taking place at City Square, Kampala.
~ ADMIN— BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) March 15, 2021
According to the tweet, Wine was protesting over ‘hundreds of missing Ugandans’ whose families had not heard from them for months. The tweet read that those who showed up for the protest were ‘grossly tortured’ and man-handled by the security operatives.
After he announcing his arrest, Wine disclosed that the police had dropped him off at his home, now surrounded by security operatives.
UPDATE: Bobi Wine driven in police truck, and dropped at home. His home now surrounded by police and the military.
~ Admin
— BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) March 15, 2021
The protest is part of the post-election crisis in Uganda following the January 14 election that perpetuated Youveri Mueveni’s 35-year reign in the country.
The ICIR had reported how Wine was arrested during the electioneering period and eventually placed on house arrest on Thursday 14, January 2021, after voting at the Ugandan presidential elections in his local government.
The January 14 Ugandan election was marred by voter suppression and opposition intimidation. Wine was not allowed to receive visitors for 11 days before a court judge ordered the military personnel to vacate his residence.
A few days to the election, the Ugandan government, led by Museveni, had shut down the internet, arguing that ‘it was no good’ to its people.
Also, both the European Union and the United States did not observe the election due to the government’s failure to implement previous electoral recommendations and accredit electoral observers respectively.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94