Police deny Bobi Wine kidnapping claim as Yoweri Museveni cruises to victory

Ugandan police have denied claims that presidential candidate Bobi Wine was kidnapped on Friday evening as vote counting continued in the East African country amid an internet blackout.

Wine and his group said a helicopter landed on the grounds of his home in the capital, Kampala, and forcibly transported him to an unknown location.

Initially, Wine’s son, Solomon Kampala, said both his parents had been arrested, but later claimed that his father had “escaped” and that his mother was still under house arrest, leading to confusion over the opposition leader’s whereabouts.

The latest Electoral College figures from Thursday’s vote show Museveni won 72% of the vote, based on a 94% turnout at polling stations, while Wine won 24%.

Police spokesperson Kituuma Russoke told a press conference on Saturday morning that the National Unity Platform (NUP) party leader was still at his home in Kampala and that it was Wine’s family who had spread the ‘untrue’ and ‘baseless’ claims.

He said the movement of wine had been restricted because his home was an area of ​​’security concern’.

“We have controlled access to areas that are security hotspots,” Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper said.

“We cannot allow people to gather in a place and cause chaos. All our actions are aimed at preventing anyone from causing violence or destabilizing our security,” he said.

On Friday, Wine told supporters to ignore the “fake results” that had been announced, saying authorities were “stealing votes.” He provided no evidence to support his claims and authorities did not respond to his claims.

Wine’s son Solomon Kampala, who has been posting updates on social media, admitted he had received conflicting reports about the security situation at his parents’ home overnight.

On Saturday morning, he posted on his SNS, “My father escaped during a police raid, and my mother is currently under house arrest. No one can still enter the house.”

In Korea, access to the Internet has become difficult, making it difficult for citizens to check information.

News emerged late on Friday that at least seven opposition supporters were killed in conflict on Thursday in Butambala, about 55 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of the capital.

The U.S. Embassy issued an alert to citizens after reports that security forces were “using tear gas and shooting into the air to disperse the gathering.”

During Thursday’s vote, slow arrivals at ballot boxes and malfunctioning biometric machines used to verify voter identities led to delays of up to four hours at many polling places across the country.

Some linked the problem to network outages.

Elections chairman Simon Byabakama said Friday’s vote counting had not been affected by the internet outage and final results would be out before 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Thursday’s election followed a violent campaign by President Museveni, 81, as he seeks a seventh term. He first came to power as a rebel leader in 1986.

Wine, a 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician who says he represents the country’s youth, most of whom are under 30, has promised to root out corruption and enact sweeping reforms, while Museveni has insisted he is the only guarantor of Uganda’s stability and progress.

There are six other candidates, but the presidential polls are a two-legged race between Museveni and Wine.

The campaign period was marred by a hiatus in opposition activity. Security forces have been accused of attacking and detaining Wine’s supporters.

Police spokesman Russoke dismissed the complaints, accusing opposition supporters of being disruptive.

Internet access was disrupted on Tuesday, with Uganda’s Communications Commission saying the outage was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and incitement to violence. The United Nations human rights office condemned the move, calling it “deeply concerning.”