Bobi Wine, Ugandan opposition leader under house arrest, police deny arrest claims say they ‘escorted’ him home
- Bobi Wine, a former pop star is a prominent critic of President Yoweri Museveni and has faced numerous arrests and alleged human rights abuses in the past
- Wine lost the 2021 presidential election, but rejected the results, saying there was widespread rigging and intimidation by security forces
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said on Thursday he was under house arrest after being seized by security officials on his return home from a trip abroad.
Wine, a pop star-turned-politician who ran against veteran President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda’s last election in 2021, has been arrested numerous times.
“They picked me illegally like you saw and as we speak right now I’m under house arrest. Soldiers and police are all over,” Wine told journalists at his home north of the capital Kampala.
“As soon as I landed goons grabbed me, dragged me, twisted my hands and bundled me into a waiting private car. They drove me to the old airport where they pulled me out and put me in a military car with many soldiers and police officers.
“It was very humiliating,” said Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.
He also said that 300 of his supporters had been arrested, but did not give details. Agence France-Presse was not able to independently confirm his claim.
