Ugandan police disperse supporters of presidential hopeful Bobi Wine

A supporter holds posters of pop star-turned-opposition lawmaker Bobi Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, at his home in Kampala, Uganda. File picture: Ronald Kabuubi/Reuters

A supporter holds posters of pop star-turned-opposition lawmaker Bobi Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, at his home in Kampala, Uganda. File picture: Ronald Kabuubi/Reuters

Published Apr 22, 2019

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Kampala - Ugandan police fired teargas

and water cannon on Monday to disperse supporters of popular

musician and lawmaker Bobi Wine after they gathered at a beach

resort near Kampala where he was planning to hold a news

conference and stage a concert.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has built

support since becoming a member of parliament two years ago.

Many young Ugandans have been drawn to him by his criticism of

President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled for more than three

decades. Wine has said he plans to run for president in 2021.

Security forces have frequently prevented Wine, 37, from

staging concerts, often accusing him of failing to comply with

public order management rules. Wine and his supporters accuse

the government of cancelling his shows due to his political

ambitions.

"Police are empowered by the law to use reasonable force and

that's what we did to disperse his supporters and make him

comply with our orders," police spokesman Patrick Onyango told

Reuters.

Footage on local NTV showed police firing teargas and water

cannon at Wine's supporters gathered at One Love Beach in

Busabala on the shores of Lake Victoria on Kampala's southern

outskirts where he planned to stage a concert.

The footage showed police removing Wine from his vehicle and

shoving him into a police truck.

"Police and the military blocked us from reaching Busabala

for our press conference about police brutality, injustice and

abuse of authority," Bobi Wine said on Twitter.

"They have been trying to break into our car. Now they are

clamping it to drag us away," he said, shortly before his

administration team posted an update saying he was "violently

arrested."

The police spokesman said Wine was driven by police back to

his home in Kampala's northern outskirts.

Opponents of Museveni says he has used security crackdowns

and patronage to maintain power. The president's supporters say

he has brought order to a once unstable nation and has built up

a strong support base particularly in the countryside.

Last week, Uganda's supreme court cleared the way for

Museveni, 74, to stand again after rejecting a legal challenge

to a 2017 constitutional amendment that had removed an age

limit.

Reuters

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