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Uganda

Oppositionist Bobi Wine plans next move with party supporters after court orders military to end house arrest

PREVIEW

Government keeps close watch on youthful opposition movement as discontents surge after elections marred by state violence

After a High Court ruling on Monday (25 January) ordering police and army officers to leave Bobi Wine's home, which they had surrounded since election day on 14 January, his National Unity Platform is mulling its response to what it says is President Yoweri Museveni's stolen victory at the polls. On 26 January, Wine told a press conference the army had pulled back from its occupation of his compound but was continuing to harass him and his family, sometimes buzzing his house with military helicopters.

Last week, the electoral commission declared Museveni the winner with 59% of the vote against Wine's 35% giving the veteran incumbent a sixth term.

Wine is seeking all legal means to challenge the result. The High Court ruling is the first, albeit small, step towards a wider legal challenge (AC Vol 62 No 2, Iron fist carries the day). If those legal means of challenge include the mobilisation of Wine's supporters in mass protests in support of his claims about the elections, the government's response is likely to be fierce.

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