The leader of Uganda’s main opposition party, Bobi Wine, has cried out over the danger him and his wife are facing as the President Yoweri Museveni government continues to keep them under house arrest.
Wine disclosed that troops raided the headquarters of his party, National Unity Platform, on Monday as staff tried to prepare a legal challenge to Museveni’s declared victory in last week’s presidential election.
Wine, who is himself under house arrest, told FRANCE 24 that he and his wife remain “in danger”.
He said, “My wife and I are under house arrest. The military surrounded our house; more than 400 of them have surrounded our house. We are not allowed to leave; nobody is allowed to leave or to come in. We have run out of food. My wife was assaulted yesterday when she was trying to go to the garden to pick food.
“My lawyers are not allowed to see me and party officials are also not allowed to visit me and also all journalists are blocked from coming to see me so we are isolated, myself and my wife. We are in danger because we don’t know the intention of the soldiers, none of them is talking to us. They beat my security guard so bad just because he was asking them what they want, they could not identify themselves. Some of them are in military uniform while others are in plainclothes but are having automatic assault rifles.
“I am afraid for my life. I am afraid for my wife’s life but we must keep going because what we are doing is moral and it is just.”
Speaking about the atrocities being committed by the government, he said, “Just yesterday, four people were shot dead in a city called Masaka and they are keeping me and my wife under house arrest because they don’t want us to address the nation on the way forward, they don’t want us to talk to the press.”
Wine urged the Ugandan public to reject the results announced by the country’s electoral body, saying they did not reflect their wish.
He, however, vowed to challenge the actions of Museveni through “non-violent” and “legal” means.
The Internet was partially restored in Uganda on Monday, almost five days after a near-total blackout was imposed across the country ahead of elections the opposition says were rigged.
Long-term leader, Museveni, was declared the ‘winner’ of the January 14 presidential election marred by allegations of massive rigging and intimidation of opposition members, securing 58.6 percent of the vote and a sixth term after 35 years in power.
Wine has rejected the results, describing the election as a sham.
The headquarters of Wine’s NUP party in Kampala was under police guard Monday in what the opposition leader called a “raid” by security forces.
“Museveni after committing the most vile election fraud in history, has resorted to the most despicable forms of intimidation,” Wine tweeted.
The runup to polling day was marred by bloodshed and a sustained crackdown on government critics and Museveni’s rivals.
At least 54 people were shot dead in November over two days of street protests over Wine’s arrest, and the opposition leader was repeatedly detained and his rallies broken up with tear gas and live rounds.
The United States said it was “deeply troubled” by reports of violence and irregularities in last Thursday’s poll, though Museveni declared it the cleanest in Uganda’s post-independence history.
On Monday, the UN Watch took to its Twitter account to allege that Museveni committed “widespread voter fraud” to win the just-concluded presidential election.
The group tackled the 76-year-old for shutting down the country’s Internet ahead of the election.
The post read, “Congratulations to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni on winning re-election after murdering, imprisoning and silencing opponents, shutting down the Internet, and committing widespread voter fraud.”
Wine was the frontrunner of the opposition candidates running against the veteran leader, who has ruled uninterrupted since taking power as a rebel leader in 1986.
