Dozens of Bobi Wine aides charged with weapons offence

By Patience Atuhaire

With a week to go before the election, a military court in Uganda has charged 49 staff of presidential challenger Bobi Wine with being in illegal possession of four rounds of ammunition.

The charges indicated that the ammunition belonged to an AK-47 rifle.

Those arraigned in court include Bobi Wine's top bodyguard Edward Ssebuwufu.

Musician Nubian Li, a close confidant and singing partner, has also been charged.

They were among about 100 people arrested over a week ago on the Lake Victoria island of Kalangala. On Monday, they were charged with flouting coronavirus restrictions by a civilian court, and granted bail.

Their lawyer has told the BBC that a prisons bus meant to drive them to court to sign their release documents instead took them to the military barracks.

Earlier on Friday, at a joint security briefing on the elections, Police Chief Martin Ochola warned that anyone who causes trouble on polling day, "will regret why they were born".

The opposition have been calling on voters to stay and witness the vote-counting, amidst fears of rigging.

Earlier this week, the electoral commission announced that voters should not stay behind after casting their ballots.

This article was originally published by BBC News. [Photo: Getty Images]