KAMPALA: Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine, a leading critic of authoritarian President Yoweri Museveni, was reportedly shot in the leg by police on Tuesday in Bulindo, a town located approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital, Kampala, a statement said.
According to a statement released on Wine’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, the opposition leader was shot in the left tibia and has been rushed to the hospital for urgent medical treatment. The statement assured the public that updates on his condition would be provided as more information becomes available.
Social media videos circulating online show Wine being carried by members of his National Unity Platform (NUP) party with visible blood on his leg.
Wine, whose birth name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has been a vocal critic of Museveni, who has been in power for nearly four decades. The opposition leader’s 2021 presidential campaign against the 79-year-old incumbent was marred by allegations of widespread electoral fraud, violence, and intimidation.
Museveni was re-elected for a sixth term, an outcome that Wine and his supporters have condemned as illegitimate.
The campaign season in 2020-2021 was particularly tumultuous, with at least 54 people killed during protests that erupted following Wine’s arrest. The opposition leader has faced multiple detentions and violent dispersals of his rallies.
A documentary on Wine’s campaign for that election was named for the Oscars in February.
