Ugandan police have denied allegations that opposition leader and presidential candidate Bobi Wine was abducted by security forces as vote counting continues following Thursday’s highly contested general election, held amid a nationwide internet blackout. Claims of Wine’s abduction emerged on Friday evening after his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), said a helicopter had landed at his residence in the capital, Kampala, and that he was forcibly taken to an unknown location. Confusion quickly followed, with Wine’s son, Solomon Kampala, initially stating that both his parents had been s

Ugandan police have denied allegations that opposition leader and presidential candidate Bobi Wine was abducted by security forces as vote counting continues following Thursday’s highly contested general election, held amid a nationwide internet blackout. Claims of Wine’s abduction emerged on Friday evening after his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), said a helicopter had landed at his residence in the capital, Kampala, and that he was forcibly taken to an unknown location. Confusion quickly followed, with Wine’s son, Solomon Kampala, initially stating that both his parents had been seized, before later saying his father had escaped while his mother remained under house arrest. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke dismissed the allegations as false, insisting that Bobi Wine was still inside his home. He accused Wine’s family and supporters of spreading “untrue” and “unfounded” claims. Rusoke said security forces had restricted access to the area surrounding Wine’s residence, describing it as a location of “security interest”. “We have controlled access to areas which are security hotspots,” Uganda’s Daily Monitor quoted him as saying. “We cannot allow people to use some places to gather and cause chaos. All our actions are intended to prevent anybody from creating violence or destabilising our security.” The developments come as provisional election results place President Yoweri Museveni, 81, on 72% of the vote, with Bobi Wine on 24%, based on returns from 94% of polling stations. Wine has publicly rejected the figures, urging supporters to disregard what he called “fake results” and accusing authorities of “stealing the vote”, though he has provided no evidence. The government has not directly responded to those claims. Solomon Kampala later acknowledged that conflicting reports from the scene had contributed to confusion over his father’s whereabouts. In a post on X on Saturday morning, he said: “Amidst the raid my father was able to escape, my mother is still currently under [house] arrest, still nobody is allowed to enter the house.” Verification of events has been complicated by the suspension of internet access across Uganda, imposed on Tuesday ahead of the vote. The Uganda Communications Commission said the shutdown was necessary to prevent misinformation, fraud and the incitement of violence — a decision condemned by the United Nations human rights office as “deeply worrying”. Reports of election-related violence have also surfaced. News that at least seven opposition supporters were killed in disputed circumstances in Butambala district, about 55km south-west of Kampala, only emerged later on Friday. The US embassy subsequently issued a security alert to its citizens, citing reports that security forces were using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse crowds. Voting on Thursday was marked by logistical challenges, including delays of up to four hours at many polling stations due to late delivery of ballot boxes and failures of biometric voter verification machines. Some observers have linked these problems to the internet blackout, though electoral commission chairperson Simon Byabakama said vote counting had not been affected and promised final results before 17:00 local time on Saturday. The election followed a tense and at times violent campaign. President Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since taking power as a rebel leader in 1986, is seeking a seventh term. Bobi Wine, a 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician, has positioned himself as the voice of Uganda’s youth, pledging to fight corruption and introduce sweeping reforms in a country where most citizens are under 30. While six other candidates are contesting the presidency, the race has largely been seen as a two-horse contest between Museveni and Wine. The campaign period was marked by repeated disruptions to opposition activities, with security forces accused of assaulting and detaining Wine’s supporters — claims police have rejected, instead accusing opposition groups of provoking unrest. As tensions remain high and communication restricted, uncertainty continues to surround both the electoral process and the security situation surrounding Uganda’s leading opposition figure. Source: BBC

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