Uganda - October 2023

Uganda’s police and military have cracked down on members of the opposition National Unity Platform party (NUP) as its leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, returned to Uganda from a trip abroad on 6 October. According to Wine, he was detained by security personnel at Entebbe airport, taken home and then placed under house arrest, an allegation denied by the police, which said that he was merely ‘escorted’ home. A police press release stated that it had also arrested 40 individuals (including an NUP parliamentarian) as part of a security operation to shut down an NUP march that it had declared illegal. Wine, however, said that over 300 people were arrested, and media organisations reported that journalists had been detained and assaulted by security personnel, who had also prevented them from accessing the airport. On 9 October, Wine claimed that Ugandan police and military officers had raided the NUP’s headquarters, alleging that the raid was aimed at stopping a party prayer event.       

Sources: British Broadcasting Corporation (1), Monitor, Uganda Police Force, Bobi Wine, British Broadcasting Corporation (2), Committee to Protect Journalists, Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corporation (3)