Opposition chief flees Uganda to flee army hunt after disputed election | EUROtoday

Ugandan opposition chief Bobi Wine has confirmed he has fled the nation, revealing he was escaping a army search following a presidential election he claims was rigged.

The transfer comes amid heightened tensions and issues for his security.

Mr Wine, whose start identify is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, had been in hiding for the reason that 15 January vote.

Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner with 71.6 per cent of the vote, a outcome Mr Wine vehemently rejects as faux.

Soldiers reportedly raided his house the day after the election, although he had already gone into hiding, fearing for his life after campaigning for weeks in a helmet and flak jacket at rallies the place safety forces had been a relentless presence.

Public concern for Mr Wine’s security had mounted over current weeks, along with his whereabouts unknown to most people.

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This was exacerbated by repeated threats posted on social platform X by the military chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Gen Kainerugaba, the president’s son and broadly thought-about his seemingly successor, has recommended Mr Wine is needed for unspecified crimes, regardless of Ugandan police stating they aren’t actively trying to find him.

The normal has beforehand referred to Mr Wine as a “baboon” and a “terrorist”, in a pattern of offensive social media posts he often deletes.

In a video message shared on X on Saturday, an unshaven Mr Wine confirmed his departure from Uganda, though he did not disclose his destination.

“Fellow Ugandans and mates of Uganda all around the world, by the point you see this video I’ll have left the nation for some important engagements exterior Uganda,” he stated.

“And on the proper time I’ll come again and proceed with the trigger. I thank all of you fellow Ugandans who’ve hid and guarded me for all this time when the regime was searching for me.”

He further asserted that security operatives were unable to locate him “as a result of the individuals have protected me.”

Mr Wine, probably the most distinguished of seven candidates difficult Mr Museveni, instructions vital help amongst younger, city populations.

Many followers are deeply disillusioned with the federal government over perceived official corruption and a stark lack of financial alternatives. They yearn for profound political change after 4 many years beneath the identical chief.

President Museveni, 81, is about to be sworn in for a seventh time period in May, a tenure that will prolong his rule in direction of 5 many years.

While his supporters credit score him with bringing relative peace and stability to Uganda – making it house to tons of of hundreds fleeing violence elsewhere on this a part of Africa – critics, together with some who had been as soon as his shut allies, more and more decry what they describe as a worrying descent into authoritarianism.