Uganda’s main opposition leader, Bobi Wine, has been injured after apparently being hit in the leg with a tear gas canister during a protest near the capital, Kampala.
Video footage posted on social media after the Sept. 3 incident in Bulindo showed Wine surrounded by his supporters before tear gas was fired and he appeared to be hit in the leg.
Images shared by his supporters online showed him with a bleeding wound below the left knee.
Street confrontations between Wine, a popular singer whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, his supporters, and the police have frequently led to violence.
But this is the first time he has been wounded. He is being treated at a hospital in Kampala, Uganda.
Wine, 42, ran for president in 2021, losing to President Yoweri Museveni in an election that his supporters claimed was rigged.
Wine, who is popular among young and urban Ugandans, became famous as an entertainer but then entered politics and won a seat in the national assembly in 2017.
His party, the National Unity Platform, is now the biggest opposition group in the national assembly.
In 2018, Wine’s bodyguard and driver, Yasin Kawuma, was shot dead by security forces in northern Uganda.
Ugandan authorities have in the past accused Wine of trying to incite rioting and have charged him with multiple criminal offenses.
Museveni, who turns 80 next week, has been in power since 1986, when he led a rebel movement that fought the autocratic regime of Milton Obote and finally seized power.
Museveni, who is not due to face the electorate again until 2026, has declined to say when he plans to retire.
In 2020, the median age of the population in Uganda was 15.7 years, compared to 30.3 globally.
Police Advised Against ‘Procession’
Kituuma said: “After departure, police on the scene reported that honorable Kyalgulanyi and his team exited their vehicles and initiated a procession to Bulindo town. However, police advised against that action.“Despite the warning, he insisted on proceeding and blocking the road, leading to police intervention to stop the procession.
“During the ensuing altercation, it appears he sustained injuries.”
He said police officers at the scene reported that they saw Wine stumble as he got into his car, but the spokesman noted that “on the other hand, his team and himself, and a number of people, say he was shot.”
He said the police were beginning an investigation, aided by medical advice, and could not comment further until that has concluded.
“They often forget that today, everyone is a journalist. We’re grateful to the vigilant citizens who captured this footage and shared it. Thank you for listening to our consistent message—many times, our cameras are our biggest weapons.”
They then posted footage of the incident.
Kituuma referred to footage on social media in his press conference.
“It would be strange for police to watch a video footage on a social media platform and draw a conclusion,” he said. “We have not descended to that level.”
Uganda became independent from the British in 1962 and was famously led by dictator Idi Amin between 1971 and 1979, when he was ousted by Tanzanian troops who installed Obote, who was himself then removed in a coup in 1985 shortly before Museveni’s rebels took over.
Museveni, who was originally supported by the Soviet Union and China, later became a close ally of the UK and the United States.
