Bobi Wine and family running short of food
President Yoweri Museveni made a triumphant return to the Ugandan capital yesterday after his disputed re-election while his main opposition rival languished under house arrest with dwindling supplies of food.
As the motorcade carrying Museveni, 76, made a string of exultant stops during the 265km journey from his rural stronghold, the US and the European Union joined international calls for an inquiry into allegations of electoral fraud and violence.
Hundreds of troops have surrounded the home of Bobi Wine, 38, since counting began after the ballot on Friday last week. Wine, Uganda’s most successful musician, poses the biggest threat to Museveni’s 35-year rule. A makeshift garrison now occupies his large property outside Kampala and he and his wife, Barbie Kyagulanyi, have been prevented from leaving.
‘‘We only have some bananas and a few tins of food,’’ Kyagulanyi, 35, told The Times. ‘‘The last time I attempted to go and get vegetables from the garden, I was manhandled by soldiers who pushed up against me to force me back inside.’’
Their 18-month-old niece, who had been left at their home for a few hours on election day, has been separated from her parents for a week because soldiers barred her father from collecting her. The couple have no milk or nappies for her. They sent their own four children, the youngest of whom is five, to the US for safety.
The official results gave Wine 34 per cent of the vote to Museveni’s 58 per cent. His lawyers made a habeas corpus application to end his arbitrary detention yesterday and he has pledged to challenge the election results in the courts, which have rarely shown signs of being independent.
Museveni, an autocratic former guerrilla leader who has held office since 1986, finds himself increasingly at odds with his allies in the West. Wine has urged
Uganda’s partners to suspend billions of dollars in foreign aid which, according to the International Monetary Fund, makes up more than 12 per cent of Ugandan government spending.
It seems unlikely, however, that Western partners will rush to cut ties with Museveni. Uganda is considered to be a stabilising force in east Africa, a region which is dogged by terrorism and conflict.