Bobbi Wine, Uganda’s top opposition candidate, said his compound in the country’s capital, Kampala, was breached by security forces Friday and he was “under siege” shortly before it was announced he lost his bid to unseat the country’s six-term president, The New York Times reported.
“The military has jumped over the fence and is now taking control of our home,” he tweeted, according to the paper. “None of these military intruders is talking to us. We are in serious trouble.”
Wine, a musician, had been challenging President Yoweri Museveni, who has held office for 36 years. The Times reported that by last Friday, 50 percent of the vote had been counted and Museveni had a comfortable lead, attracting 62 percent of the vote compared to Wine’s 29 percent, and Museveni was declared the winner. Wine blamed widespread fraud and violence for the election outcome.
Uganda has seen its worst unrest in years. Dozens were killed in protests that were seen by outside observers as a youth movement that turned its back on the entrenched political class. The protests were sparked by one of Wine’s earlier arrests for holding a rally amid the coronavirus outbreak. Anyone who was caught wearing red – the color of Wine’s opposition party, called the “National Unity Platform” – was arrested.
The Times pointed out that leaders in East Africa have used COVID to advance their agenda and put in place restrictive laws to snuff out dissent.
Indeed, the same could be said for Ethiopia, which is waging war against its Tigray people for holding elections when the ruling government said they could not be held because of the coronavirus.
The paper said that outside countries, such as the U.S., would normally try to intervene, but protesters in Kampala have watched the U.S.’s response to its protests and likened the actions to human rights abuses.
Wine has been critical of how the votes were tallied during a government-mandated Internet blackout that occurred during the election.
Tibor Nagy, the top U.S. diplomat to Africa, called Uganda’s electoral process “fundamentally flawed,” according to NPR. He cited reports of the denial of accreditation to election observers, violence, and harassment of opposition figures.
“We continue to urge restraint and rejection of violence by all actors as Uganda’s election results are announced,” Nagy said. “The immediate and full restoration of Internet connectivity is essential. The U.S. response hinges on what the Ugandan government does now.”
TRENDPOST: As we have been warning when the COVID War was launched last year, as economic conditions deteriorate and the “Greatest Depression” worsens, civil unrest will erupt into civil wars. Civil wars will intensify and spread into regional wars, which will, in turn, escalate a major refugee crisis.
