At least one person was killed at a rally for Ugandan opposition politician Bobi Wine, police said Friday, in the latest violence before elections in January.
President Yoweri Museveni is seeking to extend his 40-year rule but is opposed by Wine, a singer turned politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.
The 43-year-old has become hugely popular among many of Uganda’s young people but faces a deeply entrenched political machine led by the 81-year-old Museveni.
The Ugandan police force said security forces deployed to eastern Iganga town “faced attacks, including stone-throwing incited by the candidate”.
“Officers responded to the violence by dispersing the unruly crowds, during which one civilian fatality occurred,” according to the statement, posted on X.
“Several suspects linked to today’s violence have been arrested” and were in custody, it said.
The statement also condemned “hooliganism” at the event and warned that “confronting armed officers poses grave risks, will not be tolerated, and will face decisive action”.
Earlier this week, a rally for Wine in the capital Kampala brought huge crowds, with police using tear gas in one location, according to a journalist.
Wine condemned the actions of the security forces, telling AFP he and his supporters would not stop until “Museveni is out of power, regardless (of) how many people his partisan police and the army kills”.
“These criminals fired live bullets at peaceful people and in the process killed at least one comrade and injured several others,” he said earlier in a post on X, saying the crowds were dispersing after the end of the rally when officers opened fire.
Wine added in the post that at least three other people had been “severely injured” and were “fighting for their lives in hospital”.
The former singer lost to Museveni in 2021 elections that were marred by widespread reports of irregularities and severe violence from security forces.
He has been arrested numerous times and alleged torture in police and military custody.
Museveni’s son and Ugandan army chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba has repeatedly threatened to behead Wine on social media.
The president’s campaign has focused on “protecting the gains” of his four-decade rule and “driving Uganda to high middle-income status“. Currently, around one in six people live in poverty in the East African nation.
Museveni remains popular for having liberated the country from brutal dictatorial rule in the 1980s but is accused of increasing authoritarianism of his own in later years.
By Agencies
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