Arrest of Ugandan pop singer, government critic, sparks outcry

KAMPALA, Uganda — A pop singer and prominent critic of Uganda’s government was charged with unlawful possession of firearms in a military court on Thursday for his alleged role in clashes in which attackers threw stones at the longtime president’s motorcade.

The arrest of lawmaker Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, whose uses the stage name Bobi Wine, has set off an outcry in the East African nation, with rights groups demanding his release. He has not been seen in public since he was detained after Monday’s clashes.

A lawyer for Ssentamu, Medard Sseggona, told reporters after Thursday’s closed-door hearing that his client had been so “brutalized he cannot walk, he cannot stand, he can only sit with difficulty … It is hard to say whether he understands this and that.”

Ssentamu will reappear in court on Aug. 23, the military said in a statement.

Three other lawmakers arrested were charged earlier on Thursday with treason.

The country’s deputy prime minister said Ssentamu would be tried as a militant because he had been found to have a gun. Ssentamu’s wife insisted he doesn’t know how to handle a weapon.

The clashes broke out on Monday when Ssentamu and other politicians, including President Yoweri Museveni, were in the town of Arua campaigning in a by-election to choose a lawmaker after the previous one was shot dead in June.

Security forces accused Ssentamu and his group of throwing the stones. Ssentamu’s driver later was shot dead during attempts to disperse the crowd, according to police.

The 36-year-old Ssentamu, who was elected to parliament last year, has emerged as a powerful voice with his calls for young people to “stand up” and take over the country from what he calls the current government’s failed leadership.

In hotly contested by-elections this year he has backed candidates who emerged victorious, signaling his rise in ranks of the political opposition.

Many followers urge him to run in the next presidential election in 2021.

Museveni, a key U.S. security ally, took power by force in 1986 and has since been elected five times. The last vote, in 2016, was marred by allegations of fraud.