Bobi Wine supporters to be charged with assaulting police, incitement
Ugandan presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi alia Bobi Wine (centre) stands on a road after his campaign team was blocked by Uganda People's Defence Forces in Kalangala District on December 30, 2020.
Ugandan police have said that 126 people arrested last week in Kalangala District where National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine had gone to campaign will be charged with six counts.
Police Spokesman Fred Enanga said 99 of the suspects, who include members of Wine’s private security team, will appear at Masaka Magistrate’s Court Monday on charges of assaulting police officers, incitement to violence, malicious damage to property, doing a negligent acts likely to spread an infectious disease and inconsiderate use of a public road, among others.
According to Mr Enanga, 25 of the suspects will be charged at Kalangala Chief Magistrate’s Court on the same charges after the Director Public Prosecutions (DPP) sanctioned their files.
Among the suspects is Wine’s singing partner, Ali Bukeni alias Nubian Li, and Mr Eddy Ssebufu aka Eddie Mutwe (Bobi Wine’s personal bodyguard).
Social media users
Mr Enanga, who was addressing journalists in Kampala on Monday, also decried growing misinformation especially among social media users as the January 14 polls draw closer.
The police spokesman further said that they had registered several cases of defacing of posters of rival camps and intimidation of voters, especially the young ones, women and the elderly.
“If you combine all these it can lead to acts of lawlessness and anarchy. Police will not allow such acts to continue. Those who are planning to harass voters on polling day will face the consequences. In some of the footage we have obtained, there are those warning women and elderly if they know they belong to rival camps. Therefore, as the joint security force, we continue to review this footage with the intention of apprehending the culprits,” he said.
