Ugandan Bobi Wine says his bodyguard was “deliberately” run over and killed

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“I’m sorry to announce the murder of my security team member Francis Senteza Kalibala aka Frank. He was deliberately run over by a military police truck,” wrote Wine, a pop musician turned politician. Twitter.

A Ugandan army spokesman denied that Wine’s bodyguard was the target.

UPDF (Ugandan People’s Defense Force) would like to clarify that the late Senteza … was not hit by a military police vehicle as claimed, but rather fell off a speeding car … he tried to jump to (sic) but fell out, Brig. General Flavia Byekwaso, the spokesman, wrote on Twitter late Sunday.

Wine said the incident took place while his team took local journalist Ashraf Kasirye to seek medical attention after he was injured by police.

“He’s in critical condition,” Wine wrote on Twitter from Kasirye’s injury. “We hope against hope that he will live.”

Police spokesman Fred Enanga told Reuters that Wine’s supporters had gathered on Sunday in Masaka, 125 kilometers southwest of the capital, Kampala.

Wine tweeted that he had attended a church service in town.

Bobi Wine calls on the US to hold Uganda accountable for human rights, says he has been killed almost twice

Enanga said Wine’s supporters were “violent” but did not provide further details on what they were doing.

“Tear gas was used to quell the violence. The journalists were unfortunately caught up in the process of spreading the violent group,” Enanga said in an online statement, adding that the circumstances were being investigated.

Enanga told Reuters that Kasirye sustained a serious injury over his left eye “allegedly from a (tear gas) canister.”

In an interview with CNN earlier this month, Wine said he had been killed nearly twice in recent weeks and called on the international community to hold Uganda’s government to account ahead of next month’s election.

Wine also accused the military of taking over the election process, saying his campaign team was tear gas and shot at with sharp bullets.

Bobi Wine says police fired through the window of his vehicle when he tried to pass a roadblock on December 1.
Wine challenges incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for more than 30 years in the January 14 elections. The musician has accused Museveni of being a dictator responsible for human rights abuses after at least 45 people died in protests sparked by Wine’s arrest for violating Covid-19 regulations at a campaign rally last month.

While authorities have said the restrictions are necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19, opposition members and their supporters say they are an excuse to curb the campaign for the election.

Witnesses at the time told CNN that police officers, soldiers, and civilian gunmen fired high-caliber rifles into densely populated urban areas to quell the protests. These accounts were supported by multiple videos shared on social media during the chaos.

Additional reporting by Reuters.

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