A singer and presidential hopeful in Uganda, Robert Kyagulyanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has suspended his campaign following clashes between security personnel and his supporters. The announcement comes as violence continues to escalate in the country.
Authorities have been accused of cracking down on supporters of the young presidential candidate, with members of his campaign team getting injured, and his car getting shot at in recent attacks.
“With effect from today, I am suspending my campaign until further notice,” Wine said on Wednesday while addressing a news conference near the capital Kampala. “We are going to the electoral commission headquarters to inquire why we are being tortured by security institutions… our campaign is affected by police brutality.”
On Twitter, the singer from Uganda said that several members of his staff were wounded and some were in critical condition. He added that he and his supporters attempted to move to another campaign venue, located in Jinja in eastern Uganda, but security personnel blocked him, shot and blew out his car’s tyres.
It was earlier reported that Daniel Oyerwot, a music producer and Wine supporter, had sustained a mouth injury after he had been shot at by security officers with rubber bullets.
Similarly, since announcing his candidacy, Wine himself has been arrested several times with the most recent instance being last month. Following his arrest, protests against President Yoweri Museveni, with a confirmed number of 54 people killed as the police and military attempted to quell the protests.
Wine’s large following has rattled the governing National Resistance Movement party and security forces have frequently fired tear gas at his rallies and detained and beaten his supporters, according to witnesses.
Running the country since 1986, President Museveni has amended the constitution twice to allow him to run for the sixth time in 2021 as he seeks another five-year term in Uganda.
Bobi Wine has, however, not withdrawn from the race that will see him go against Museveni on January 14, as well as, former army commander Mugisha Muntu, Nancy Linda Kalembe, the only woman on the ballot, and John Katumba, a 24-year-old.
