Uganda: Bobi Wine Files Arbitrary Detention Complaint

Uganda: Bobi Wine Files Arbitrary Detention Complaint

The Ugandan main opposition leader Bobi Wine, who is under de facto house arrest by the military, has filed an arbitrary detention complaint to the United Nations (UN).

“Nigerian human rights lawyer Femi Falana has filed this complaint on my behalf to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Arrest.

“We are challenging my continued illegal confinement by the Ugandan police and the military,” Wine tweeted on Wednesday.

Since Friday, Wine’s residence in Kampala has been surrounded by the army, a day after Uganda conducted presidential elections in which Wine competed against President Yoweri Museveni.

Long-time president Museveni, 76, was re-elected with almost 59 per cent of the vote, followed by 38-year-old Wine, with roughly 35 per cent.

Wine says he will legally contest the result of the presidential election, alleging “widespread fraud” during the Jan. 14 poll, which was seen as Uganda’s first election in which there was a real threat to Museveni’s rule.

One of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, Museveni, has retained power for 35 years. He had changed Uganda’s constitution to enable himself to run for yet another five-year term.