KAMPALA, UGANDA — Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, was discharged from a hospital Wednesday after surgery on his left foot, following an incident Tuesday in which he was injured during an altercation with police.
The police, meanwhile, denied that Wine had been shot. Wine’s political party on Tuesday accused the police of shooting the opposition leader in the leg.
Wine, who heads the National Unity Platform party, or NUP, was leaving a meeting when he confronted police who were beating, arresting and using tear gas on onlookers who had gathered near the home, according to party lawyer George Musisi.
He said Wine was injured by fragments of a tear-gas canister when he got out of his vehicle to speak to the police commander.
“Shortly after stepping out, that’s when those canisters were thrown directly in his direction,” Musisi said.
Wine is an entertainer-turned-politician who unsuccessfully challenged President Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 elections. The government has denied accusations it tries to clamp down on the opposition.
Musisi described the extent of Wine’s injuries, saying, “When they did the X-ray, they found that some fragments had hit the bone. That explains [why there was] much more pain than actually how the wound ... looked.”
Police described the confrontation differently.
Police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma told journalists that Wine had attended a celebration, after which he initiated a procession upon his departure. Kituuma said that authorities advised against it, but that Wine insisted on proceeding, which blocked the road and triggered the police intervention.
“The information we got from the officers at that ... time was that they saw him stumble while getting into his vehicle,” Kituuma said. “We don’t want to get into the arguments” over whether Wine was injured by a bullet or a stumble.
"We want an opportunity for an investigation to prove it, which must be medical, and which must go through professional investigators,” he said.
Yusuf Serunkuma, a political analyst, said that while police should have ensured no one was hurt, most of their actions are made out of fear of the crowds Wine attracts.
“Because Kampala is the capital city of political activity, if you can overwhelm Kampala, you’ve overwhelmed the government. So, the government’s fear is the ‘if.’ Even if it’s spontaneous and completely unorganized, they worry that it might become something big and they may fail to contain it,” Serunkuma said.
Critics have accused police of heavy-handedness, especially when it comes to members of the opposition.
Police say that during the altercation, three officers were injured when they were hit by stones and that two of their vehicles were damaged.
