Bobi Wine stable after violent clash with Uganda police

Ugandan opposition leader and National Unity Platform (NUP) president, Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, is recovering at the St Francis Nsambya Hospital following a violent altercation with security officers on Tuesday in Wakiso District, a party lawyer said early Wednesday.

Bobi Wine sustained injuries when a teargas canister was fired at him, hitting his left lower leg. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation.

“He is stable and out of danger,” said George Musisi, one of the NUP lawyers.

NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi revealed that X-ray reports indicated “fragments of the teargas canister were lodged in Bobi Wine’s leg”. A surgical operation to remove these fragments was scheduled for September 4 at the Kampala health facility.

In the meantime, Mr Musisi noted that NUP lawyers and officials would visit Kira police on Wednesday to secure the release of at least four detainees and three motorbikes seized during the melee as Bobi Wine returned from a private function.

Veteran opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye condemned the police aggression, terming it “totally uncalled for” and part of a continued pattern of persecution against the political opposition.

“From Ssenyonyi’s brief, the injuries Kyagulanyi suffered are from the tear ball grenades (usually blue coloured), that police liberally employ as part of persecution- not policing!” he wrote on X (former Twitter).

He further condemned the Uganda Police Force (UPF) for its continued abuse of human rights.

Former leader of the opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, also criticised the police, demanding an explanation for the “brutal and high-handed attack.”

Ingrid Turinawe, another opposition figure, emphasised the right of all Ugandans, including Bobi Wine, to move freely without fear of attack. “This nonsense of tormenting peaceful unarmed civilians must stop!” she declared.

Mr Musisi further accused the police of acting as an “armed wing of the ruling party” against those they view as government dissidents. “It is not an isolated incident. Ugandans should also demand that police respect the law,” he told NTV Uganda on Wednesday.

Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke responded by stating that an investigation would be conducted to establish the facts. He said that police officers at the scene claimed Bobi Wine stumbled while getting into his vehicle, causing the injury, while Bobi Wine’s team maintains that he was shot.

“An investigation will be conducted to clarify the facts,” Mr Rusoke noted in a brief statement.

This incident echoes past events, such as in 2018 when Bobi Wine’s bodyguard-driver, Yasin Kawuma, was shot dead during a violent arrest of Bobi Wine in Northern Uganda amidst parliamentary by-election activities.

The Ugandan authorities had accused Bobi Wine and his supporters of stoning President Museveni’s convoy, a claim they deny.

This article originally appeared on The East African.