Uganda: Bobi Wine in ‘critical condition’ amid violent protests

According to sources, the imprisoned singer's health continues to deteriorate at the Makindye military police barracks after it was established that he had suffered kidney damage while being tortured at the hands of security personnel last week.

Bobi Wine's wife, Barbie Kyagulanyi, said the 36 year old had been denied access to his family doctor and that his lawyers’ efforts to secure his transfer to a specialised medical facility had been unsuccessful.

Yesterday, the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) announced that it had assembled a team of specialists, including a nephrologists, gastroenterologists and cardiologists, among others, to attend to Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.

“We have since established that Hon. Kyagulanyi has been denied access to his family physician,” the UMA's Dr Ekwaro Obuku said. “In fact, we have received a request from the legal team of Hon. Kyagulanyi to render support with specialised medical care, which he urgently needs to save his life. What is most important now is to save his life! Otherwise, the consequences of torture go beyond the individual.”

A statement released by Barbie Kyagulanyi on 17 August indicates that the singer was tortured to the point of losing consciousness.

“Today I went with lawyers and members of the Uganda Human Rights Commission to Makindye military prisons, and after many days I was able to see my husband with my own eyes. Bobi is in pain. He has a swollen face – very deformed. His forehead is bruised and his eyes are red. He cannot walk. He was carried into the room where we saw him. He cannot sit straight.”

The charges

The opposition politico was arrested last week at a hotel in Arua and later charged before the general court martial in Gulu on several counts of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. Security officials say they recovered guns in the singer's hotel room and claim he was among the masterminds behind an alleged stoning of President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy in Arua on 13 August. He will be remanded in Makindye prison until 23 August.

Barbie Kyagulanyi told the BBC that her husband was unaware of the charges he was facing.

“He was surprised when we told him that he is accused of possessing firearms," she said. "He was hearing about this for the first time. He wonders why he is being tried by a military court. But he knows that this is part of the price he has to pay for what he believes in. He asks Ugandans to remain firm, even in the face of such repression.”

Museveni released a statement on Sunday dismissing claims that the musician was tortured, terming the narrative as “fake news”.

Arua by-election and arrests

On 14 August Ugandan security personnel broke into Bobi Wine’s room at Pacific Hotel in Arua and claimed to have recovered two AK-47s, a pistol, 15 phones, six red T-shirts and 46 white tablets in a tin labelled ‘Extra Strength’. The raid and arrest occurred after Bobi Wine's driver, Yasin Kawooya, was shot and killed in the hotel's parking lot. It is believed that the police were the shooters, although this has not been independently confirmed.

Bobi Wine, who is affiliated with the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), arrived in Arua on 12 August to campaign for independent candidate Kassiano Wadri during a municipal by-election. At the same time, Museveni was campaigning for Nusura Tiperu of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), who eventually lost the election.

A police report said Wadri’s supporters attacked the presidential motorcade forcing security forces to fire teargas at the mob. They also fired bullets in the air. This was followed with the arrest of about 30 people including opposition MPs Francis Zaake, Paul Mwiru, Gerald Karuhanga and Wadri. The Gulu Magistrate's Court charged the group with treason and remanded them in jail until 30 August.

Hotel shooting and raid

A source who was with Bobi Wine prior to his arrest told Music In Africa on condition of anonymity that there were no guns or ammunition in the hotel room. He said Bobi Wine and his team had excused themselves from a procession heading to Wadri’s headquarters and left for the hotel. As they were watching the evening news, they heard gunshots in the parking lot.

“About 7.30pm one of our colleagues came into the restaurant and told us that our driver, Yasin Kawooya, had been shot at the hotel parking,” the source said. "So we all rushed to see our friend. But we found the police waiting for us. When they saw us, they ran towards us and Bobi Wine rushed and locked himself in his hotel room. He was okay with no injuries, contrary to now.”

The owner of Pacific Hotel, Candia Luiji, said Bobi Wine did not enter the hotel with a visible firearm and accused the police of stealing about 80 million Ugandan shillings ($21 000) of the lawmaker's money, according to PML Daily.

Bobi Wine recently spoke to Music In Africa about Uganda's latest Internet crackdown. Read the story here.