Uganda’s Opposition NUP leader Bobi Wine Steadily recovering in hospital after Police attack

Kampala September 4–The President of Uganda’s leading opposition Party, National Unity Platform NUP, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu, commonly known as Bobi Wine, who was shot with a teargas canister Tuesday evening at Bulondo, Kira Municipality, is making steady progress at Nsambya hospital, where he was admitted and went though surgery to remove the teargas canister fragments from his leg.

Kyagulanyi and his team were from a visit to the party’s lawyer, George Musisi at Bulindo when Police and military, cordoned off their convoy, and fired teargas at the convoy and one security officer aimed at Bobi Wine who was trying to escape teargas fired into his car and the canister hit him making a deep hole in his leg.

He was rushed at a nearby health facility in Bulindo for first aid treatment and was later transferred to Nsambya hospital where he is admitted.

Police spokesperson, Kituuma Rusoke, in a statement to the media, said that according to his police officers at the scene, Bobi wine stumbled and injured himself as he was trying to enter his car to escape from the scuffle with security officers. But according to video footage making rounds on social media, shows a teargas canister exploding at Bobi Wine before he fell down on the ground.

Police further said that NUP supporters and Bobi Wine were making a procession towards Bulindo town blocking traffic flow and rejected Police orders to stop the procession which forced the police to apply force adding that demonstrators or rioters are not enemies of the Police but they are temporary opponents of the Police.

The shooting and injuring of NUP president, Bobi Wine, has attracted condemnation and criticism against Uganda’s security forces from various sectors of society of their high handedness against the people.

Former FDC president Col. dr. Kiiza Besigye on his X platform described the incident as unfortunate “The horrible outcome of what, as usual, is totally uncalled for police aggression against political opposition leaders”.

The former leader of opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba said on his X platform that ” The police brutal and high handed attack on Bobi Wine is something every right thinking Ugandan must condemn.”

Bobi Wine was first elected to parliament in 2017, and ran against President Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 election, which was marred by state repression.

He is popular among young people and has been arrested – and beaten up – numerous times.

The country’s security forces have a long history of pursuing political opponents of President Museveni, who has been in power for almost 40 years.