By Enyichukwu Enemanna
No fewer that 300 supporters and officials of Bobi Wine’s opposition party have been arrested by security forces since the beginning of presidential campaign for the January poll, the party’s spokesman said on Tuesday.
Wine, a pop star-turned-politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is challenging 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni for the second time after the 2021 poll in which he came second.
“Over 300 have been detained since the campaigns started. The regime is in panic, they are resorting to arrests to deter and instil fear in our people,” spokesperson for Wine’s party National Unity Platform (NUP) Joel Ssenyonyi said.
The arrests from the campaign which started October included scores detained this week in the capital Kampala, where Wine began campaigning on Monday, Ssenyonyi said.
The majority of those detained are ordinary supporters but also include campaign coordinators, Wine’s aides and other officials, he said.
Currently Africa’s fourth longest-ruling leader, Museveni’s government has changed the constitution twice to remove age and term limits, allowing him to remain in office since 1986.
At a rally in Kampala’s Kawempe area on Monday security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a crowd of Wine’s supporters, online video indicates.
A video posted on Wine’s X account late on Monday also showed police using pepper spray on his supporters.
At least 100 people were arrested on Monday and dozens more detained on Tuesday at another rally on the outskirts of Kampala, Ssenyonyi said.
Police said in a statement late on Monday that they had detained seven people after clashes with Wine’s supporters, accusing them of throwing stones and injuring seven officers.
“Security personnel responded by using public order measures to control rowdy crowds,” the statement said.
Wine says Museveni won the last election through ballot-stuffing, intimidation of voters, bribery and other rigging tactics.
