Uganda’s main opposition leader Bobi Wine has been arrested upon returning to the country from a trip abroad.
This is according to his National Unity Platform party.
The singer-turned-politician arrived at Entebbe International Airport on Thursday morning after a tour of several countries, including South Africa.
The general secretary of the NUP David Rubongoya said on X, formerly Twitter, that Bobi wine was picked up by regime operatives as soon as he landed at the airport,” the post was accompanied by a photo appearing to show two men seizing him by the arms on the tarmac.
We wish to inform the public that the NUP President, Hon. Kyagulanyi Robert was successfully escorted by our security team from Entebbe to his home in Magere. He reached his home around 11.20am, and is with his family and friends. Disregard rumors of his arrest by propagandists.… pic.twitter.com/o0rFo6yQ31
— Uganda Police Force (@PoliceUg) October 5, 2023
Police said Bobi Wine “was successfully escorted by our security team from Entebbe to his home in Magere. He reached his home around 11.20am, and is with his family and friends. Disregard rumors of his arrest by propagandists.”
Bobi Wine’s supporters had planned to accompany him en masse to his home north of the capital, Kampala, to welcome him back, but police had said such gatherings were illegal.
Ugandan police said last month that gatherings organized by the NUP would be banned across the country due to public order concerns.
Ugandan authorities have a long history of utilizing “preventative arrest” to imprison opposition leaders, typically detaining them for several hours before returning them to their homes in order to impede huge protests.
Bobi Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, is a prominent critic of President Yoweri Museveni’s regime who has previously faced multiple arrests and allegations of human rights violations.
