Spouse of Uganda's opposition chief recounts harrowing assault

[ad_1] KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The spouse of Ugandan opposition chief Bobi Wine described on Saturday how armed males pressured their approach into her house and attacked her as they demanded to know the place he was.

Barbara Kyagulanyi, recognized affectionately as Barbie, instructed reporters gathered round her hospital mattress that she didn't cooperate with the handfuls of males in army uniform who broke into her house on Friday evening. She instructed them she didn’t know the place her husband was — and he or she refused to unlock her cell phone regardless of their calls for.

The intruders harassed and insulted her, asking why she had married opposition chief Kyagulanyi Ssentamu — extensively often known as Bobi Wine — probably the most distinguished of seven candidates who had challenged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in final week’s election .

Wine has been in hiding since Museveni was declared the winner of the Jan. 15 presidential polls, with 71.6% of the vote, in line with official outcomes. Wine’s Nationwide Unity Platform social gathering, or NUP, took 24.7% of the vote, a end result he has rejected as pretend.

Wine, who has known as for peaceable protests, not too long ago stated he fears for his security and is sheltering at an unknown location.

‘Swarm of males’ There was a heavy safety presence round Wine’s house. On Friday evening, the couple’s kids weren't at house and Kyagulanyi was alone in the home, aside from a guard on the entrance gate, when the gunmen forcibly accessed the property.

Kyagulanyi recorded the intruders on her cellphone. The video, posted on X, shocked many Ugandans. She stated from her hospital mattress that after she noticed the “swarm of males,” she known as her brother-in-law and instructed him, “That is the top.”

Kyagulanyi says two males held her whereas the remainder searched the home. One requested her to unlock her cellphone. When she refused, he lifted her off the ground and he or she kicked him, at which level the second man grabbed her, ripping off her pajama high and the buttons.

Whereas this was occurring, a number of the males “appeared away,” and others “have been unbothered,” she stated.

Later, Kyagulanyi stated, a gunman pulled her by the hair and banged her head towards a pillar. 4 males pressured her down and sat on her. She stated she handed out and was taken to the hospital at 1 a.m.

At Nsambya Hospital, within the Ugandan capital of Kampala, she was being handled for bruises and anxiousness on Saturday.

Escalating assaults Kyagulanyi stated she has no doubts that Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba — the military chief since 2024 and the president’s son — was accountable for the raid, following his repeated threats towards her husband on X.

Col. Chris Magezi, a spokesman for the army, didn't reply to a request for remark.

Wine’s lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, on Friday urged the worldwide neighborhood “to demand instant, verifiable ensures” of Wine’s security, citing the military chief’s “reckless” threats towards the opposition chief whilst police say Wine has not dedicated any crime.

Kainerugaba’s tweets on X are often offensive , and he has focused Wine in current days, calling him a “baboon” and a “terrorist.” He usually deletes his posts later.

Kainerugaba stated this week that over 2,000 of Wine’s supporters have been detained because the election. He additionally stated he was working with the powers of a commander-in-chief of the armed forces, authority vested within the president by legislation.

David Lewis Rubongoya, secretary-general of Wine’s social gathering, stated on Saturday that NUP “is beneath assault,” describing the current occasions as a “new section of persecution.”

“Our chief is in hiding,” Rubongoya stated. “A number of different social gathering leaders are both lacking or beneath arrest.”

Disputed election Uganda’s election was marred by a dayslong web shutdown and the failure of biometric voter identification machines that triggered delays within the begin of voting in areas, together with in Kampala. Wine has additionally alleged that poll bins have been stuffed in some areas seen as Museveni’s strongholds.

Museveni, who's a long-time U.S. ally on regional safety, has accused the opposition of making an attempt to foment violence in the course of the voting.

In an announcement on Friday, the chairman of the Senate International Relations Committee, Idaho Republican Jim Risch, urged the Trump administration to “reassess the U.S. safety relationship with Uganda, starting with a evaluate of whether or not sanctions are warranted beneath current authorities towards particular actors,” together with Kainerugaba.

United Nations Secretary-Normal António Guterres has urged “restraint by all actors and respect for the rule of legislation and Uganda’s worldwide human rights obligations.”

Ugandan safety forces have been a relentless presence all through the election marketing campaign.

Wine stated that authorities adopted him and harassed his supporters, usually utilizing tear gasoline towards them. He campaigned in a flak jacket and helmet for protection .

Museveni, 81, will now serve a seventh time period that may deliver him nearer to 5 many years in energy. His supporters credit score him for the relative peace and stability that has made Uganda house to a whole lot of hundreds fleeing violence elsewhere on this a part of Africa.

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Comply with AP’s Africa protection at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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