Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, who is popularly known as Bobi Wine, was allegedly put under house arrest on Friday as ballistic counting continues in a hotly contested presidential election that has already raised international concerns about repression and irregularities.
The shocking development happened just one day after the voting under strict security and a government-imposed internet blackout.
The National Unity Platform (NUP), Wine’s party, stated that military and police officers surrounded his residence in Kampala late Thursday, thereby confining him and his wife to their home. The party claims that the security personnel crossed the boundary and erected tents within the compound, which they describe as illegal detention of the politician.
The measures of restriction came after a day when the early results indicated that the incumbent president Yoweri Museveni was leading the opposition by a wide margin. As per the partial counts from the Electoral Commission, Museveni secured more than 76 percent of the votes from nearly half of the polling stations, while Wine was lagging behind with less than 20 percent.
Critics and rights groups have accused Museveni, who is 81 and wants to extend his rule to 7 terms, of using the state apparatus to silence dissent, a claim the government has rejected. The authorities argued that the tight security and communication restrictions were a necessary evil to keep order during the tense election period.
The announcement from the NUP has not yet been verified by the police. A senior officer told Reuters that he did not know about any official house arrest order at that moment. Independent observers and international rights organizations have voiced concern about the electoral situation and characterized the election as taking place under conditions of extensive intimidation and limited media access.
The reported imprisonment of Wine on Friday, who is a singer turned politician and has become the symbol of young opposition in Uganda, has raised fears that the political liberties will be further curtailed.
Experts point out that the claimed house arrest could weaken his support and limit his power to challenge the rapidly spreading downfall of the ruling narrative.
Bobi Wine has accused the authorities of wide-scale ballot rigging and intimidating voters and has vowed to fight what he calls an unbalanced process. With the final election results expected by Saturday morning, the civil society and international partners are already putting pressure on the authorities to conduct a thorough verification and to respect the democratic norms.
As the situation becomes tenser in Uganda’s capital city and other places, the restriction on the movement of Wine is considered a significant and potentially very explosive development during the electoral cycle of Uganda which has been characterized by tensions. Further reports will keep track of the official reactions and the larger implications for the future of Uganda’s politics.
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