Bobi Wine allegedly assaulted by security forces

Uganda’s opposition candidate Bobi Wine said he was beaten alongside his aides and supporters by security forces while campaigning in the country’s north in an escalation of violence ahead of the country’s presidential election on 15 January, reports TimesLIVE. Wine, a pop star and politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is challenging 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni for the second time after coming second in the election in 2021. In posts on his X account late on Saturday, Wine said he was hit in the face with a cane and other supporters were also beaten and had to be hospitalised as they approached a campaign venue in Gulu, the biggest city in Uganda’s north. Military spokesperson Chris Magezi accused Wine and his supporters of forming an illegal procession and campaigning beyond the prescribed time. Wine said one of his aides was hit on the head and he posted an image of him with blood oozing from the wound. Campaign materials including his public address system had been vandalised, he said. A video he posted showed what appeared to be a large group of military and police personnel beating people with sticks. In a statement on Wednesday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk decried what he described as an ‘intensifying crackdown’ on the opposition in Uganda and said at least 550 supporters of Wine’s party, the National Unity Platform, had been detained this year.