Jump to navigation

Uganda

Oppositionist Bobi Wine plans next move with party supporters after court orders military to end house arrest

Government keeps close watch on youthful opposition movement as discontents surge after elections marred by state violence

After a High Court ruling on Monday (25 January) ordering police and army officers to leave Bobi Wine's home, which they had surrounded since election day on 14 January, his National Unity Platform is mulling its response to what it says is President Yoweri Museveni's stolen victory at the polls. On 26 January, Wine told a press conference the army had pulled back from its occupation of his compound but was continuing to harass him and his family, sometimes buzzing his house with military helicopters.

Last week, the electoral commission declared Museveni the winner with 59% of the vote against Wine's 35% giving the veteran incumbent a sixth term.

Wine is seeking all legal means to challenge the result. The High Court ruling is the first, albeit small, step towards a wider legal challenge (AC Vol 62 No 2, Iron fist carries the day). If those legal means of challenge include the mobilisation of Wine's supporters in mass protests in support of his claims about the elections, the government's response is likely to be fierce.



Related Articles

Iron fist carries the day

Brutal suppression of the opposition and voter intimidation won President Yoweri Museveni another term of office

Although President Yoweri Museveni won the presidential election with 59% of the vote on a 57% turnout according to the electoral commission, over a dozen of the ruling...


Doubling down on anti-gay bill

Uganda's parliament is set to pass a new law that criminalises identifying as gay, lesbian or transgender, same sex marriage, and the promotion of homosexuality.


Oil to play for

More than a billion barrels of oil under Lake Albert may help transform the country’s economy but will not determine outcome of the 2011 elections

The tussle between the government and the oil companies wanting to exploit Lake Albert’s oil fields has hit deadlock over US$404 million which the government says is owed...


M23’s other parent

Indirect talks between the M23 rebels in North Kivu and the Kinshasa government are finally taking place in Uganda, sources in Kampala have told Africa Confidential. Yet this...