Bobi Wine - The African Mirror

Feb

2021

Uganda’s Wine drops election result challenge

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA OPPOSITION leader Bobi Wine announced yesterday that he was dropping a legal challenge to Uganda's presidential election results that handed victory to incumbent Yoweri Museveni, saying Supreme Court justices hearing the case were biased. Museveni, a former guerrilla leader who has led the East African country since 1986, was declared winner of the Jan. 14 election with 59% of the vote, while Wine was given 35%. Wine, 39, a pop star and lawmaker whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has rejected the results and said he believed victory was stolen from him. He asked the court to overturn…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda security personnel beat journalists covering petition on rights abuses

MEDIA FREEDOM

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDAN military and police officers beat and seriously injured journalists on Wednesday as they covered the delivery of a petition about human rights violations to a United Nations office, a rights group said. The security personnel assaulted the journalists as they covered opposition leader and pop star Bobi Wine, who was petitioning the local U.N. human rights office to investigate reported incidents of rights violations. Police will release a statement on the incident later, a police spokesman said. At least 20 journalists were hurt in the attack, with at least four sustaining deep cuts on the head that…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Ugandan opposition say 3 000 detained or abducted

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDAN opposition leader Bobi Wine and his party have revealed that around 3,000 of his supporters had been detained or abducted by state agents since November when protests flared over his arrest during a presidential election campaign. The police said they were investigating all reports of disappearances. They have previously said they arrested nearly 600 people in connection with the November unrest, and accused protesters of rioting and looting. Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo and President Yoweri Museveni's spokesman Don Wanyama did not immediately answer telephone calls seeking comment on the assertions. Wine, who is also a pop star,…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s Bobi Wine challenges election result in court

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDAN opposition leader Bobi Wine has filed a supreme court challenge seeking cancellation of the results of a presidential election that handed victory to incumbent Yoweri Museveni, his party's lawyer said. Museveni, a former guerrilla leader who has led the East African country since 1986, was declared winner of the Jan. 14 election with 59% of the vote, while Wine was given 35%. "We want the poll cancelled and repeated," said George Musisi, lawyer for Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP). Wine, 38, a pop star and lawmaker, rejected the results and said he believed his victory was stolen.…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Everywhere I am in chains,’ says Uganda’s Wine

NEWS

UGANDA’S opposition leader Bobi Wine accused security forces of humiliating him, his family and staff as he was freed from house arrest in place since a disputed January 14 election that he lost to long-serving President Yoweri Museveni. Soldiers and police left the 38-year-old pop star's large compound, in a leafy northern suburb of the capital Kampala, in compliance with a court order and under pressure from the United States and other Western countries. "It has been an experience of isolation, of torture, of humiliation, having our compound turned into a military garrison," Wine told Reuters from his garden, wearing…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Ugandan court orders opposition leader’s freedom, troops still block his home

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA AN Ugandan court ordered security forces yesterday to free opposition leader and pop star Bobi Wine, whose house arrest since a presidential election has drawn international pressure on President Yoweri Museveni's government. Hours later, his large compound in a leafy northern suburb of the capital Kampala remained blockaded. "The military and police are still surrounding our home and indeed, they are still locking our gates and are not allowing anybody to move out, or anybody to come in," he told Reuters in a video message. Former guerrilla leader Museveni, 76, has long been a Western ally, receiving copious…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda accuses U.S. envoy of subversion for trying to visit candidate

NEWS

UGANDA has accused the U.S. ambassador of seeking to subvert last week's presidential election by trying to visit the main opposition candidate at his home, which has been surrounded by security forces since the vote. Troops prevented pop star-turned-legislator Bobi Wine from leaving his house shortly after he returned from voting in Thursday's presidential election, in which he ran against incumbent Yoweri Museveni. Museveni, 76, who has been in power since 1986, was declared the winner of the poll with 59% of the vote against 35% for Wine, who became famous after years of singing about government corruption and nepotism,…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Two die in Ugandan election protests

NEWS

UGANDAN opposition leader Bobi Wine's party is preparing to challenge President Yoweri Museveni's election win and condemned what it called the house arrest of Wine, as news emerged of two people killed in protests over the result. Protests broke out on Saturday after results from Thursday's election were announced in two areas, Luwero district north of Kampala and Masaka to the southwest, and security forces killed two people and arrested 23 in total, NTV Uganda reported on Sunday, citing local police. No other details were immediately available about the protests. A nationwide internet blackout since the day before the vote…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Museveni wins 6th term, rival alleges fraud

NEWS

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has scored a decisive election victory to win a sixth term, the country's election commission has announced, but his main rival Bobi Wine denounced the results as fraudulent and urged citizens to reject them. The 76-year-old Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6% in Thursday's election. Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8%), the Electoral Commission said in announcing the final results. The campaign was marked by a deadly crackdown by security forces on Wine, other opposition candidates and their supporters. In the run-up to the vote…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s Museveni leads, rival alleges fraud

NEWS

LONG-TIME leader Yoweri Museveni held a commanding lead in a presidential election according to partial results released this morning, with final results expected later in the day, though his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud. With ballots from 86% of polling stations counted, Museveni had won 5.3 million, or 58.8%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.1 million votes (34.6%), the electoral commission said. The election campaign was marred by deadly crackdowns by security forces on opposition candidates and their supporters. Wine and some other opposition candidates were arrested on multiple occasions. There was a heavy security presence around…