Latest news with #RobertKyagulanyi
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Uganda's President Museveni confirms bid to extend nearly 40-year rule
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed he will contest next year's presidential election, setting the stage for a potential extension of his nearly 40-year rule. The 80-year-old announced late on Saturday that he had expressed his interest 'in running for … the position of presidential flag bearer' for his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. Museveni seized power in 1986 after a five-year civil war and has ruled ever since. The NRM has altered the constitution twice to remove term and age limits, clearing the way for Museveni to extend his tenure. Rights groups accused him of using security forces and state patronage to suppress dissent and entrench his power – claims he denies. Museveni said he seeks re-election to transform Uganda into a '$500bn economy in the next five years'. According to government data, the country's current gross domestic product stands at just under $66bn. Ugandans are due to vote in January to choose a president and members of parliament. Opposition leader Bobi Wine, a pop star-turned-politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has confirmed he will run again. Wine rejected the 2021 results, alleging widespread fraud, ballot tampering and intimidation by security forces. Tensions have risen in recent months after parliament passed a law allowing military courts to try civilians, a practice the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in January. The government insisted the change is necessary to tackle threats to national security, but rights organisations and opposition figures argued it is a tool to intimidate and silence critics. Uganda for years has used military courts to prosecute opposition politicians and government critics. In 2018, Wine was charged in a military court with illegal possession of firearms. The charges were later dropped. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised Uganda's military courts for failing to meet international standards of judicial independence and fairness. Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at HRW, said this year: 'The Ugandan authorities have for years misused military courts to crack down on opponents and critics.'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Uganda's President Museveni confirms bid to extend nearly 40-year rule
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed he will contest next year's presidential election, setting the stage for a potential extension of his nearly 40-year rule. The 80-year-old announced late on Saturday that he had expressed his interest 'in running for … the position of presidential flag bearer' for his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. Museveni seized power in 1986 after a five-year civil war and has ruled ever since. The NRM has altered the constitution twice to remove term and age limits, clearing the way for Museveni to extend his tenure. Rights groups accused him of using security forces and state patronage to suppress dissent and entrench his power – claims he denies. Museveni said he seeks re-election to transform Uganda into a '$500bn economy in the next five years'. According to government data, the country's current gross domestic product stands at just under $66bn. Ugandans are due to vote in January to choose a president and members of parliament. Challenger Opposition leader Bobi Wine, a pop star-turned-politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has confirmed he will run again. Wine rejected the 2021 results, alleging widespread fraud, ballot tampering and intimidation by security forces. Tensions have risen in recent months after parliament passed a law allowing military courts to try civilians, a practice the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in January. The government insisted the change is necessary to tackle threats to national security, but rights organisations and opposition figures argued it is a tool to intimidate and silence critics. Uganda for years has used military courts to prosecute opposition politicians and government critics. In 2018, Wine was charged in a military court with illegal possession of firearms. The charges were later dropped. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised Uganda's military courts for failing to meet international standards of judicial independence and fairness. Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at HRW, said this year: 'The Ugandan authorities have for years misused military courts to crack down on opponents and critics.'
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine to seek presidency, chides West over rights
NAIROBI, May 9 (Reuters) - Ugandan opposition leader and pop singer Bobi Wine said on Friday he plans to run for president for a second time and criticised the West for not speaking out more against "gross human rights violations" in the country. Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, will be challenging long-serving President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who is widely expected to seek re-election. "Yeah, I've expressed my availability on behalf of my team," Wine said in an interview with Reuters when asked whether he would stand again in the east African country's next presidential election, due in January. Participation in the election, he said, will also be "a fighting opportunity to further undress and expose the regime and to further galvanise the people of Uganda to rise up and free themselves." Wine came second in the last election in 2021 but rejected the outcome, alleging ballot staffing, falsification of results, beatings and intimidation by soldiers and other irregularities. Government and electoral officials denied the accusations. Wine criticised Western governments for not denouncing what he said were escalating human rights violations, including abductions, illegal detention and torture of his supporters and officials. Wine did not single out any country for criticism. "Some leaders in the West are complicit in our suffering. They are here to crack their (business) deals and they don't care about human rights," he said. "If they were standing for the values that they profess, then they would be castigating all these gross human rights violations." Uganda is considered by the West as an ally in the fight against jihadists and has deployed troops in Somalia. Uganda's justice minister said this week that Eddie Mutwe, an activist in Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP) party, who also doubles as his personal body guard, appeared to have been tortured while in captivity. Museveni's son and head of the military, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said he had kept him in his basement and that he was using him as a punching bag. After missing for a week Mutwe was on Monday produced in court, charged with robbery and remanded. Wine said Mutwe told him he had been electrocuted, waterboarded and beaten. Police spokesman Rusoke Kituma did not respond to a Reuters call for comment on the allegations. Reuters contacted a spokesperson for Uganda's defence forces seeking comment from Kainerugaba. He did not respond. Wine said that if was elected, his priorities would include restoration of political and civil rights and a crackdown on corruption.
