Bobi Wine - The African Mirror

Jan

2021

Why Uganda’s ban on open-air campaigns could tilt the 2021 poll in Museveni’s favour

UGANDA is going to conduct its first digital and mass media campaigns ahead of its 2021 general elections. This comes as the country contemplates holding a “scientific election” wherein social distancing guidelines will be observed. GEOFFREY SSENOGA, Lecturer of Mass Communications, Uganda Christian University On 16 June 2020, the Uganda Electoral Commission issued a press release banning public rallies for the 2021 political campaigns as part of the country’s COVID-19 containment measures. Campaigns will now be conducted on radio and television, in newspapers and on the internet. This caused an immediate protest especially among opposition-leaning political groups and civil society…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda bans social media ahead of election

NEWS

UGANDA has banned social media, two days ahead of a presidential election pitting Yoweri Museveni, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, against opposition frontrunner Bobi Wine, a popular singer. In a letter seen by Reuters to internet service providers dated January 12, Uganda's communications regulator ordered them to block all social media platforms and messaging apps until further notice. Internet monitor NetBlocks said its data showed that Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Skype, Snapchat, Viber and Google Play Store were among a lengthy list of sites unavailable via Uganda's main cell network operators. Campaigning ahead of the vote has been marred by…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Facebook takes down Ugandan pro-Museveni accounts

NEWS

FACEBOOK has taken down a network in Uganda linked to the country's ministry of information for using fake and duplicate accounts to post ahead of this week's presidential election, the U.S. social media giant has announced. Ugandans vote on Thursday in an election pitting long-time leader Yoweri Museveni against 10 candidates including opposition frontrunner Bobi Wine, a singer-turned-lawmaker whose star power has rattled the ruling party. "We found this network to be linked to the Government Citizens Interaction Center at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology in Uganda," Facebook said. "They used fake and duplicate accounts to manage pages,…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s police chief: ‘beating of reporters for their own good’

NEWS

UGANDA has space in its prisons to cope with any spike in arrests during next week's presidential election and the police beat reporters for their own good, senior security officials said yesterday. Campaigning ahead of the January 14 election, which pits President Yoweri Museveni against 10 other candidates including popstar-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine, has been marked by brutal crackdowns on opposition rallies. Wine has been arrested multiple times and security personnel routinely break up his rallies. In November, 54 people were killed as security forces quelled protests after Wine was detained. Reporters have also been attacked by police. At a pre-election…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

ICC asked to investigate Uganda rights abuses

NEWS

UGANDA’S main opposition leader has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate President Yoweri Museveni and senior officials for sanctioning human rights abuses in the run-up to next week's presidential election. Popstar-turned-lawmaker Robert Kyagulanyi, who goes by the name Bobi Wine, told reporters during a Zoom news conference from his car on the campaign trail that his lawyer had submitted the filing to The Hague court on Thursday. The ICC has the authority to hear cases of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed in the 123 countries, including Uganda, that have signed up to it. Uganda has in…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

The main candidates in Uganda’s election

NEWS

UGANDANS vote on January 14 in a presidential election that pits Yoweri Museveni, Africa's fourth-longest ruling head of state, against 10 other candidates, including reggae-star-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine. Here are details about the main candidates: YOWERI MUSEVENI, NATIONAL RESISTANCE MOVEMENT: The 76-year-old seized power in January 1986 after a five-year guerrilla struggle to oust Milton Obote. Ugandans initially cheered him for ending cycles of bloodletting under both Obote and Idi Amin. Museveni started to revive the economy with statist policies but he adopted a more liberal approach in the early 1990s, signing up to the International Monetary Fund's structural adjustment programmes…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Ugandan presidential challenger Bobi Wine campaigns in a flak jacket

NEWS

UGANDA’S main opposition candidate in next week's presidential election has swapped his trademark red beret for a helmet and starts each day with shadow-boxing and a prayer to survive a campaign trail he describes as a war zone. Popstar-turned-lawmaker Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, who goes by the name Bobi Wine, is the frontrunner among 10 candidates challenging Yoweri Museveni, who is seeking to extend his 34-year rule in the East African nation at the January 14 vote. While former guerrilla fighter Museveni, 76, has long been seen as a stabilising force in Uganda after the brutal reigns of Milton Obote and…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine arrested, police fire teargas at protesters

NEWS

UGANDA opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, and his campaign team were arrested in Kalangala in the country's central region, he said in a post on Twitter. The arrests spurred protests at a field in Kalangala Island in Lake Victoria where a helicopter was parked and which Wine's supporters said they believed would be used to fly him back to the capital Kampala. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd who were protesting, a witness, who did not want to give his name for security reasons, told Reuters. No further details of the arrests were…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

UN rights experts urge Uganda to halt pre-election violence, arrests

NEWS

UNITED Nations human rights experts have called on Uganda to rein in violent security forces and drop charges against political opponents and activists arrested in what the experts termed an election clampdown. Popstar Bobi Wine has emerged as the strongest challenger to President Yoweri Museveni in the presidential election scheduled for January 14. On Sunday Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said one of his bodyguards was killed when military police ran him over while Wine's convoy was taking a wounded journalist to seek medical help. Military police said the bodyguard had fallen from a speeding car. "We are…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s Bobi Wine says bodyguard killed by police; three reporters hurt

NEWS

Ugandan presidential candidate and pop star Bobi Wine said one of his bodyguards was killed on Sunday when police ran him over while Wine's convoy was taking a journalist injured by police to seek medical help. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as the strongest challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, 76, in the country's presidential election due on January 14. "I regret to announce the murder of my security team member Francis Senteza Kalibala aka Frank. He was deliberately run over by military-police truck, No. H4DF 2382, which blocked us in Busega on our way to Rubaga…