Ugandan opposition leader arrested again

JOHANNESBURG

Uganda’s opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has been arrested in the capital Kampala as he led Members of Parliament in a peaceful protest, his office tweeted Monday.

Kyagulanyi’s office said he was protesting at City Square in Kampala against the abduction, torture, and murder of his supporters.

“The right to protest peacefully is a fundamental human right. We are protesting for hundreds of missing Ugandans whose families have not heard from them for months,” the tweet said.

Addressing a news conference at his party's office in Kampala last week, Wine, 38, leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, had called upon people to hold countrywide demonstrations against recently held presidential elections, while police warned against such demonstrations.

Earlier this month, he released a list of 423 supporters who were allegedly kidnapped by state agents and are still missing.

There have been reports of alleged widespread kidnappings and murders of opposition supporters since the Jan. 14 elections which the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, 76, won with 58.64% votes against Kyagulanyi’s 34.83%.

Kyagulanyi, a popstar-turned-politician, contested the election results in court, arguing there were many incidents of electoral malpractices.

According to local media, unknown gunmen believed to be linked to the state have since been rounding up opposition supporters in covert security operations.

In a televised speech recently, President Yoweri Museveni called the missing people “terrorists” who were planning anarchy in the country.