by Nurat Uthman
Uganda’s main opposition leader Bobi Wine, who has emerged as the most formidable opponent of veteran President Yoweri Museveni, was shot in the leg by security agents in a northern suburb of the capital Kampala on Tuesday, his party said.
Wine, a pop star turned politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, finished runner-up in the 2021 presidential election behind Museveni, who has ruled the East African country for nearly four decades.
“Security operatives have made an attempt on the life of President @HEBobiwine. He was shot in the leg and seriously injured,” Wine’s party, the National Unity Platform, said in a post on the X platform.
NTV, a local independent broadcaster, reported he was injured in a scuffle after police fired tear gas to disperse his supporters.
Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
A video shared widely on social media showed NUP party officials helping Wine hobble out of the Najeem Medical Centre in the Bulindo neighborhood. Wine appeared to have a bleeding wound on the shin of his left leg and was grimacing in pain.
“We condemn this cowardly action; yet another attempt on his life. The continuing violence meted out on those opposed to the Museveni regime must be condemned by all people of good conscience,” NUP party Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya wrote on the social media platform X.
Museveni’s government has been accused by opponents and human rights activists of stifling the opposition, something Museveni denies.
Wine has amassed huge support amongst the youth in Uganda, a nation of 46 million, with many wooed initially by his rags-to-riches story as a pop star from the ghetto, and in recent years by his bold attacks on Museveni’s government.
Wine was declared the runner-up in the 2021 presidential election, although he rejected the results and claimed to have won, saying the vote has been rigged through intimidation, ballot stuffing, bribery and other tactics.
