Bobi Wine nominated, arrested after confirmation to contest for presidency

Bobi Wine Nomination
Bobi Wine and other opposition leaders in Uganda have been frequently arrested in recent years

Kampala, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | The National Unity Party (NUP) Presidential aspirant Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine was on Tuesday 3rd, November 2020 dully nominated, then arrested just after he was successfully certified as a candidate to contest in Uganda’s 2021 elections.

“We now enter the most critical phase of our liberation struggle!,” Bobi Wine tweeted after his candidacy certified.

Bobi Wine, 38, who is hoping to unseat Uganda’s long-time leader, Yoweri Museveni, 76, in power since 1986, was immediately handed a new security team and vehicles to support his campaign.

However, Bobi Wine was later dragged from his car into a police van amid violent scuffles between police and his supporters.

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Many Ugandans especially the youth who are majority in the country, are rallying behind Bobi Wine’s calls for the sitting president to retire.

Earlier, there were  running battles between Police and his supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) as they tried to accompany him to Kyambogo University for his nomination.

The supporters who were standing by the roadside in Magerere, Wampewo, Kyanja, Mpererwe, Gayaza Kumbizi, Ntinda and Kasangati, waiting for Bobi Wine put up resistance forcing police to use tear gas and live bullets to disperse them leading to running battles.

“They [police] used a hammer and broke the windows of his vehicle and forcefully dragged him out … they bundled him into their own vehicle and took off,” Joel Senyonyi, the NUP spokesperson said

Joel Ssenyonyi, says police and security operatives are exhibiting double standards by not allowing NUP supporters to express their excitement while respecting the Standard Operating Procedures [SOPs].

These comes after President Museveni, who was nominated as a candidate on Monday 2nd, November 2020, said afterwards that his government would not tolerate the activities of enemies plotting chaos.

“There’s nobody who is going to disturb here. Whoever tries will regret. because for us, we don’t play,” President Museveni said.

“The ruling party [National Resistance Movement- NRM] fought to bring peace in this country. nobody has more guns than us. But we don’t scare people,” he added.

VIDEO: Bobi Wine’s Full Speech After Nomination to Contest for 2021 Presidency

Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson says that Bobi Wine and his supporters were warned against making processions to and from the nomination grounds.

Since Bobi Wine expressed his presidential ambition, police and the military have repeatedly dispersed his rallies, and beaten and detained his supporters.

The Electoral Commission [EC] has not fixed a date for the 2021 general election.