May 7, 2026
Uganda Police Kill One Person, Injure Several At Opposition Rally

Uganda Police Kill One Person, Injure Several At Opposition Rally

Police said Friday that at least one person was killed at a demonstration for Ugandan opposition candidate Bobi Wine, in the latest violence ahead of the January elections.

President Yoweri Museveni wants to extend his 40-year rule, but Wine, a singer turned politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, opposes it.

The 43-year-old has grown extremely popular among Uganda’s youth, but he faces a highly established political machine commanded by Museveni, who is 81 years old.

According to a statement from the Ugandan police force, security forces deployed to eastern Iganga town “faced attacks, including stone-throwing, incited by the candidate”.

The statement also criticized “hooliganism” at the gathering and warned that “confronting armed officers poses grave risks, will not be tolerated, and will result in swift action.”

Earlier this week, a Wine event in Kampala drew large crowds, with police using tear gas in one spot, according to an AFP journalist.

Wine criticized the security forces’ actions, saying AFP that he and his followers would not stop until “Museveni is out of power, regardless (of) how many people his partisan police and army kills”.

“These criminals fired live bullets at peaceful people and in the process killed at least one comrade and injured several others,” he said earlier in a post on X.

Wine said that the crowds were dispersing after the end of the rally when officers opened fire.

Wine also stated in the tweet that at least three more people had been “severely injured” and were “fighting for their lives in the hospital.”

The former singer lost to Museveni in 2021 elections that were marred by widespread reports of irregularities and severe violence from security forces.

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He has been arrested numerous times and alleged torture in police and military custody.

Museveni’s son and Ugandan army chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba has repeatedly threatened to behead Wine on social media.

The president’s campaign has focused on “protecting the gains” of his four-decade rule and “driving Uganda to high middle-income status”. Currently, around one in six people live in poverty in the East African nation.

Museveni remains popular for having liberated the country from brutal dictatorial rule in the 1980s but is accused of increasing authoritarianism of his own in later years.

Uganda Police Kill One Person, Injure Several At Opposition Rally

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