TIG Post

Tag: Bobi Wine

  • Wine calls for ‘moral revolt’ against Museveni in Uganda

    Wine calls for ‘moral revolt’ against Museveni in Uganda

    Bobi Wine, the leader of the opposition in Uganda, has asked people to disobey the government and to protest against President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in charge for 38 years.

    During an interview with France 24, he said he was scared for his life because the government wanted to get rid of anyone who opposed them.

    A movie about Bobi Wine running for president in 2021 is up for an Academy award at this year’s Oscars.

    His party, the National Unity Platform, went to court in Kampala on Tuesday to ask the security agencies to let go 18 of its supporters who have been missing since the trouble during the 2021 election campaign.

    More update on this story soon.

  • Bobi Wine in UK after purported nine-year visa suspension

    Bobi Wine in UK after purported nine-year visa suspension

    Ugandan opposition politician and former musician Bobi Wine visited the UK for the first time in ten years. This happened more than three weeks after the UK government allowed him to enter the country again, following a reported nine-year ban.

    “London, it’s been 10 years since I last visited. ” he wrote alongside a picture of himself in front of BBC’s London office on Wednesday.

    Bobi Wine may have been stopped from going to the UK because of his song “Burn Dem” from 2014. Some people said the song had words that encouraged attacks on gay people.

    Bobi Wine was not allowed to go to the UK after his song came out. He had to cancel two shows there.

    The UK Home Office did not say if they banned Bobi Wine when The Guardian asked them.

    On 5 November, Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said that he could go back to the UK.

    “I am happy to tell you that the UK ban on me has been lifted. I will be visiting the UK soon after 10 years,” Bobi Wine posted on X.

    He said his lawyers worked really hard to lift the travel ban.

    He said the lawyers argued that it wasn’t right for the UK government to let Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni visit, because he’s a well-known ruler who treats people badly, while stopping others who are working to make their country free and fair from visiting.

  • Ugandan police apprehends 40 individuals in a crackdown on Bobi Wine supporters

    Ugandan police apprehends 40 individuals in a crackdown on Bobi Wine supporters

    Uganda’s police are touting their operation as a “success” in thwarting supporters of opposition leader Bobi Wine from welcoming him back to the country.

    On Thursday, his followers had planned to receive him at Entebbe International Airport and accompany him on a sizable 50 km (30-mile) march to his residence. However, the police deemed this march illegal.

    The security forces reported that, as part of their operation, they detained 40 suspects, including a Member of Parliament, on charges of “inciting violence.”

    The police issued a statement, stating, “Joint deployments, including both overt and covert officers, were strategically positioned, and snap checkpoints were established on all roads leading to Entebbe… Various items intended for use in processions, such as red berets, handheld megaphone speakers, and white and red [party] T-shirts… were recovered and exhibited.”

    On Thursday, Bobi Wine claimed he was forcibly taken by “goons” and placed under house arrest upon his return from South Africa. However, the police refuted the arrest claims, asserting that the 41-year-old singer-turned-politician was merely “escorted” to his home.

  • Bobi Wine’s return to Uganda is thwarted by Ugandan police

    Police in Uganda deployed tear gas to disperse supporters of the main opposition candidate, Bobi Wine, who were attempting to reach his residence on the outskirts of Kampala.

    Earlier, security officers apprehended Bobi Wine at Entebbe Airport upon his return from an overseas trip. Bobi Wine, a frequent critic of President Yoweri Museveni, ran against him in the previous election and has faced numerous arrests.

    Plain-clothes security agents forcibly took Bobi Wine from the plane at Entebbe Airport and transported him to his home in Kampala, seemingly with the intent of preventing opposition supporters from staging a welcome rally.

    Despite the fact that elections are more than two years away, Bobi Wine has already initiated his campaign and hopes to challenge Yoweri Museveni for the presidency. Museveni’s own son has expressed a desire to run for president as well.

    For over two decades, the military has been employed to stifle the opposition in Uganda.

  • Bobi Wine detained after his return from Uganda

    Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine was taken and kept in his home against his will by some aggressive individuals when he came back from another country.

    The singer who became a politician is the most powerful competitor against President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in office for nearly 40 years.

    He has been caught by the police many times and has been accused of doing things that could harm his country.

    The police said that they did not arrest Wine. Instead, they helped him go back home.

    Wine, who used to be a famous singer and is actually named Robert Kyagulanyi, tried to become president in 2021 but did not succeed. He competed against President Museveni, who is 79 years old, in a very tense election.

    During the election campaign, the government strongly suppressed the opposition, and there were at least 54 deaths in protests against the government.

    Wine explained that once he arrived at Entebbe International Airport, some bad people forcefully took hold of him, pulled him, hurt his hands, and forced him into a private car that was ready and waiting for him.

    Later, he mentioned from his house that he was not allowed to leave.

    A video shared by Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) on X, previously called Twitter, displayed the leader being taken away after getting off a plane in Entebbe. One of his friends was recorded asking, “Where are you bringing him. ”

    The scared government has taken our President into custody when he arrived at Entebbe Airport. “We were supposed to meet him today, but the overly anxious government security wouldn’t even let him go through immigration,” said Mathias Mpuuga, the leader of NUP in parliament.

    Many people who support Wine were very excited for his return. They see him as a symbol of change in a country that has been ruled by the same person for many years.

    Recently, the police said they would stop the National Unity Platform, led by Wine, from organizing rallies in the whole country due to concerns about public safety.

    Ugandan soldiers and other security forces were sent to roads near Entebbe airport and also outside the offices of Win’s party, NUP, and in the central business district of Kampala early on Thursday morning.

    The police told the organizers to not have the planned event and for people to not attend it. A police spokesperson called it an “illegal act”.

    Mr Onyango said that security agencies went with Wine to his home in Magere, Kasangati.

    Ugandan authorities often arrest opposition leaders to stop them from organizing large protests. They detain them for a few hours and then let them go back home.

  • Court set to rule on Bobi Wine house arrest case

    The High Court in Kampala has set Monday, January 25 as the date to pronounce itself on a case in which the runner-up in the just concluded presidential polls, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine and his wife Barbra Kyagulanyi, are seeking unconditional release from house detention following a week-long siege on his home by security.

    Justice Michael Elubu set the date after hearing the submissions of all parties Thursday.

    In a petition filed by a group of lawyers, the couple sued the Attorney General (AG), Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

    “A writ of habeas corpus be issued ordering the respondents (AG, CDF, and IGP), their servants, and agents acting under their orders, to produce the bodies of Kyagulanyi Sentamu Robert and Barbra Kyagulanyi Itungo before this honourable court for appropriate orders,” reads in part the court documents filed.

    However, during the submissions by the State Attorney, Mr Martin Mwambutsya, the court heard that Mr Kyagulanyi and his wife are not in custody of any of the security agencies but rather they are at their residence with police giving them the necessary protection.

    Mr Mwambutsya presented two affidavits; Brig Dr Goddard Busingye the chief of legal services in the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs and the Assistant Inspector General of Police Edward Ochom to back up his submission.

    Court further heard that Ms Kyagulanyi and other members of her household have not been restricted in their movements in any way.

    In their affidavits, the two officers noted that Mr Kyagulanyi has on several occasions organised processions and addressed mass gatherings in several places contrary of Covid-19 regulation S10 No 83 of 2020 of the Penal Code Act Cap 120.

    “His movements have been restricted as a preventive measure with the aim of neutralising security threats,” Mr Mwambutsya said.

    However Mr Kyagulanyi’s lawyer, Mr Merdard Ssegona asked court to disregard AIGP Ochom’s affidavit saying that it was just a scanned document with no date and a scanned signature which must not allowed by law.

    The judge also wondered why affidavits of the officers in charge of Kyegegwa, Kayunga, Koboko were not filed by the state instead of hearsay which is not allowed.

    Mr Ssegona asked the court to order the security operatives to vacate the home of Mr Kyagulanyi.

    “It is not clear for what reason the applicant (Mr Kyagulanyi) is in detention. Whether he’s there for protection or not, what he’s going to do. Mr Kyagulanyi has not tested positive for Covid-19 to say that he’s going to spread the virus,” Mr Ssegona submitted.

    According to court documents, Bobi Wine was one of the 11 presidential candidates and that last Thursday upon casting his vote, he returned to his home in Magere, Kasangati Town Council in Wakiso District. However, later that day, several police officers and soldiers surrounded his home and have since never left.

    This has created a situation where Bobi Wine and his wife cannot leave their home to go out and their visitors including his lawyers and doctors can’t access their home.

    Source: monitor.co.ug

  • Bobi Wine, the ‘ghetto president’ rattling Uganda’s Museveni

    Ten years ago, ragga singer Bobi Wine, sporting dreadlocks and oversized black sunglasses, regularly appeared in music videos surrounded by women, driving a Cadillac with a joint hanging out of his mouth.

    Today the star, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is an MP dressed in dark, tailored suits who is fighting to become president of Uganda in Thursday’s election.

    The 38-year-old former pop star has become the main challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, 76, who came to power in 1986 and is the only president that many in Uganda have ever known.

    Arrests

    While Wine has been arrested numerous times since 2018, and says he was sometimes tortured, he has accused the regime of going to extremes to crack down on his campaign in recent weeks.

    He has taken to wearing a bulletproof vest and combat helmet on the campaign trail, where his meetings have often ended in a cloud of teargas and with live rounds fired.

    The hashtag #WeAreRemovingADictator has spread on social media among the supporters of his National Unity Platform (NUP).

    Fight against injustice

    Wine grew up in one of Kampala’s biggest slums, Kamwokya, where thousands of Ugandans struggle to get by and feel forgotten by Museveni’s government.

    While he went on to study music and drama at university and now lives in a better neighbourhood, he still sees himself as the “ghetto president”, a nickname he earned through his songs denouncing social and economic injustice.

    His modest origins and youth are key to his popularity in a poor country where 40 per cent of voters are under 30 years old and have known no president but Museveni.

    As an MP, Wine notably fought against a tax on social media, widely seen as unfair and limiting freedom of speech.

    “Having lived in the ghetto he appreciates how the poor like us live,” said supporter and businessman Charles Mbagga, 37, who lives in the Gayaza slum, 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of the capital.

    “Bobi Wine is popular because of his message for change, fight against injustice, corruption and unemployment among the poor and the youths.”

    Buganda kingdom

    He originally hails from the dominant Buganda kingdom — one of several traditional kingdoms which were forced together under colonialism — and is popular there.

    “(The) Buganda kingdom is an important factor in the political context of Uganda. Bobi Wine has always been very careful with Buganda, making sure he has them on his side,” said Kristof Titeca, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

    But analysts are sceptical over Wine’s capacity to pull off an election win. The country is still traumatised by the tyranny of brutal dictator Idi Amin, who Museveni helped oust, ushering in peace and stability.

    Rural areas and some groups like the military remain firmly behind the president.

    ‘Dictatorship in panic’

    Nevertheless, the regime has shown in recent weeks, a certain anxiety towards the young upstart who Museveni has in the past referred to as “our grandson, the undisciplined Bobi Wine”.

    In mid-November, at least 54 people were killed in clashes with police which were sparked by Wine’s umpteenth arrest. In December a member of the singer’s security team was killed by the army, according to his National Unity Platform (NUP).

    At the end of December, election rallies — already restricted to a quick address from the roof of a car — were banned in Kampala and 10 other key districts.

    Officially, this was due to Covid-19, but Wine and observers have seen this as a deliberate bid to frustrate his campaign.

    “The dictatorship is in panic. They’ve been surprised by the massive enthusiasm and support we’ve been received within all parts of the country,” Wine wrote on Twitter.

    Titeca argues the regime may have shot itself in the foot by cracking down on him, and the repression may help Wine win even more votes.

    “The fact he has been able to face that crackdown, people getting killed around him, him not backing down on everything that is happening, it has made him a martyr in a way, somebody who dares to stand up to the current system,” said the analyst.

    Source: theeastafrican.co.ke/afp

  • Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine says military raided his home

    Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine said soldiers raided his home on Tuesday and arrested his security guards, two days before an election.

    “The army has this morning raided my home, arrested all my security guards and anyone they could see around my premises,” Wine, who is the opposition frontrunner, said on Twitter.

    “No reason for the arrest was given,” he said.

    Spokesmen for the military and the police did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

    Ugandans vote on Thursday in elections pitting long-time leader Yoweri Museveni against 10 candidates including Wine, a singer-turned-lawmaker whose star power has rattled the ruling party.

    Wine also said in a separate post on Twitter that soldiers raided the home of one of his aides overnight and took the man to an unknown destination.

    Source: reuters.com

  • Bobi Wine asks ICC to investigate Museveni over human rights abuses

    Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he would call on the International Criminal Court to probe murder, torture and other abuses in the country, which is bracing for a tense presidential election next week.

    The pop star-turned-politician is the main rival to veteran President Yoweri Museveni, 76, in the January 14 election, which will take place after a chaotic and violent campaign during which Wine has been arrested multiple times.

    The 38-year-old, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said his complaint would target Museveni and nine senior security officials accused of targeting Wine, his supporters and civil society activists.

    “I hope that the International Criminal Court can call (Museveni) to order and remind him that he is also a human being,” Wine told journalists during a dramatic conference call which was disrupted when a police officer hauled him out of his vehicle through the window accusing him of being illegally parked.

    Wine, dressed in his campaign trail outfit of a bulletproof vest and helmet, struggled to finish as he was choked by teargas fired near his car.

    According to Wine’s lawyer for the case, Bruce Afran, there is little international precedent for the case because the complainants hope to use ten samples of alleged offences stretching over a decade to prove “systemic” violations of international law based on a “history of torture and physical abuse” by the State.

    The complaint details chilling instances of torture including that of an activist allegedly placed in a tank of freezing water with a hot metal plate above his head, who was also later forced to watch another detainee have his eye gouged out.

    The same activist also was targeted with venom sprayed from a number of cobras concealed in a basket, and was shown a pile of about ten bodies, according to the complaint.

    Other allegations include torture faced by Wine himself and the use of a deliberate “shoot to kill” policy by security forces accused of killing at least 54 people in November last year during protests against one of Wine’s arrests.

    The ICC has no obligation to consider complaints filed to the prosecutor, who can decide independently what cases to submit to judges at the court, set up in 2002 to achieve justice for the world’s worst crimes.

    The ICC last month threw out a complaint over the killing of some 150 people by Ugandan police in November 2016 in the western Kasese region, saying it did not meet the threshold for crimes against humanity.

    Nevertheless, Wine used the announcement of the latest complaint to call upon the international community to do more to protect Ugandans from state violence.

    “The international community has not done enough to help the people of Uganda,” he said.

    Source: theeastafrican.co.ke/afp

  • Government reportedly bans media houses from hosting politicians donning red berets

    The government has banned media houses from hosting politicians wearing the red beret, which was gazetted as attire for the army.

    While addressing media owners, government spokesperson, Mr Ofwono Opondo warned that those who insist on hosting these individuals will be breaching the regulation and will be arrested going forward.

    “Anyone who wanted to stop the process would have sought a court injunction. But since no one has not gone to court, it is illegal to use the beret. Those who are found culpable will be arrested,” Mr Opondo said.

    This was during an engagement between media owners and security agencies at the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence offices on Tuesday.

    In the same meeting, the media owners under their umbrella body, the National Association for Broadcasters (NAB), petitioned security agencies over the arrest and brutality meted out to journalists and panelists.

    In their petition, the media owners said the most fundamental principle defining credible elections entails the expression of the people, transparency, and inclusiveness.

    Their key points in the petition include respect and protection of members of the fourth estate and according them support when executing their duties, refraining from arresting guests of media houses at their premises before, during and after talk shows, and according safe passage to those moving after curfew hours.

    They urged the security agencies to: “Respect and stop interfering with our programmes and desist from issuing unnecessary threats to media houses. In cases you believe, some of the programmes breach any regulations, the issue should be followed up with the relevant regulators and continue to support media houses and our journalists to operate 24/7 during curfew, election period and even after.”

    The Internal Affairs minister, Gen Jeje Odongo, who chaired the meeting, said they had reached a compromise to come up with a committee to monitor the safety of journalists and receive all complaints in that regard.

    “It is unfortunate that these issues have been happening and we have heard them. The security is committed to protecting journalists while in line of duty. We have come up with a committee that will handle the matters during the election period,” Gen Odongo said.

    According to the different leaders, the 10-member committee will be chaired by Mr Ofwono, a representative from Uganda Communication Commission, Electoral Commission, and three members from NAB.

    The other four members will be from the security agencies, including, Internal Security Organisation, External Security Organsation, Chieftaincy for Military Intelligence as well as Uganda Police Force.

    The security in the recent past has been in the spotlight for arresting, brutalising and confiscating equipment of journalists while in the field.

    Source: monitor.co.ug

  • Uganda security forces raid Bobi Wine’s party office

    The party offices of Ugandan presidential aspirant Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, are being raided by dozens of armed soldiers and police officers.

    Documents are reportedly being taken from the premises as well as red military-style berets and overalls.

    Uganda police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, told the BBC: “We are carrying out operations on misuse of some of the uniforms and accoutrements that are gazetted”.

    In September last year, the government designated the red beret worn by Bobi Wine and his supporters as military uniform meaning anyone deemed to be possessing or wearing them illegally could be prosecuted.

    Mr Enanga said the operation was ongoing and that officers would search other premises as well as the offices of the National Unity Platform party.

    Bobi Wine has said state operatives are targeting him and his party as they prepare to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in the general election in early 2021.

    But the police spokesperson insists the operation is not politically motivated.

    Local television station NTV Uganda has tweeted a video of the raid:

    Source: bbc.com

  • Bobi Wine launches new party ahead of Uganda polls

    Ugandan opposition MP Robert Kyangulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has launched his National Unity Platform party ahead of next year’s general elections.

    Bobi Wine said the party will be the political wing of his People Power Movement. The party symbol is a red and white umbrella.

    He previously announced his intention to run for the presidency.

    The East African nation is set to hold general elections in January 2021 when President Yoweri Museveni is expected to seek a sixth term in office.

    The launch comes a day after Mr Museveni picked his nomination.

    Uganda’s electoral commission banned campaigns because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Opposition figures have, however, criticised the ban saying it gives an unfair advantage to the ruling party whose members own media outlets.

    Source: bbc.com