Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has finally been released. His arrest had sparked raging violence between his supporters and police, which has so far left 37 dead, and over 300 others arrested.
The presidential aspirant got a bail release on Friday, November 20, 2020, two days after his arrest. He is due to appear in court on December 18. Bobi has been accused of flaunting Covid-19 guidelines for political campaigns.
Upon his release, the popstar turn-politician indicated that he is not going to give up.
“I have news for you, Mr. Museveni and all those that work to sustain your dictatorship, we cannot be broken. You can imprison our bodies, you can teargas and pepper spray our bodies, but you cannot touch our souls. We are not going to stop fighting for a better Uganda,” Bobi said.
Bobi Wine and Covid-19 Pretext
Human Rights Watch says authorities in Uganda are using Covid-19 as a pretext to violate rights and clamp down on opposition and the media. The group also added that while security forces dispersed opposition campaign rallies, they also allowed rallies for the ruling National Resistance Movement to continue.
Some journalists have been arrested for covering some of the rallies and the protests.
Campaign Period marred with violence
Speaking to Aljazeera, Kizza Besigye, the leader of Forum for Democratic Change, said that he was not surprised that Bobi was arrested because all Ugandan elections have been “bedeviled by the same problems.”
He added that for the past 35 years in which President Museveni has been in power, the amount of force he uses “escalates in every election.” Besigye further stated that all Ugandan leaders have “bombed” their way into the office.
“In every election, there are constant features, terror, using the military, and a lot of money that is pumped out into the population to rent support. The control of media that does not act according to their will is then harassed and sometimes closed,” Besigye said.
Ugandan Internal Affairs Minister Elly Tumwine seemed to justify the police action in a recent press address.
“Police has the right to shoot and kill you if you reach a certain level of violence,” the minister said.
Museveni, Uganda’s life president
Museveni assumed Ugandan presidential office in 1986, placing him among the longest-serving African state heads.
The 76-year old is seeking his sixth term in office after the Ugandan parliament recently revoked the age limit for presidential candidates.
In what appears to be an uphill task, 38-year-old Bobi is determined to ensure that this is the last term for the old-timer. Wine is banking on his multitude of Ugandan youth supporters to end Museveni’s supposed life-time reign.
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