In a troubling development, Bobi Wine, Uganda’s prominent opposition leader and vocal critic of President Yoweri Museveni, was shot in the leg on Tuesday in a northern suburb of Kampala, according to his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP).
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was a close runner-up to Museveni in the 2021 presidential election. Museveni has governed Uganda for nearly 40 years.
The NUP has accused security operatives of attempting to take Wine’s life. “He was shot in the leg and seriously injured,” the party stated in a post on the social media platform X.
In response, the police described the incident differently, saying that officers had tried to prevent Wine and his team from marching down a road, which led to a confrontation where Wine was injured.
They indicated that an investigation would be carried out to determine te circumstances surrounding the injury. “Police officers on site claim he stumbled while entering his vehicle, causing the injury, while Hon. Kyagulanyi and his team insist that he was shot,” the police statement on X read.
NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya condemned the incident, calling it a “cowardly action” and a “continuing violence” against those opposed to the Museveni regime. He urged people of conscience to denounce the violence.
Critics, including human rights activists and opposition members, have long accused Museveni’s government of suppressing dissent, a charge the president and his administration deny.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson expressed concern on Tuesday about the shrinking democratic space in Uganda due to violence against opposition figures.
Bobi Wine, a former pop star who has garnered significant support among Uganda’s youth, is known for his dynamic critiques of Museveni’s government and his compelling personal journey from a ghetto upbringing to national prominence.
