The Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party presidential candidate has expressed fears for his life and has opted to wear body armour.
Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, better known by his stage name of Bobi Wine, said his team had received intelligence of a pre-planned terror attack against him, similar to what happened during the 2021 presidential campaigns.
‘Given previous incidents where security personnel fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters at our supporters and directly at our vehicle, the team has prioritised my safety above everything else,’ Mr Kyagulanyi told Monitor in a telephone interview.
‘Additionally, we have received credible intelligence pointing to planned acts of violence against me during this campaign,’ Bobi Wine said.
But Mr Kinuuma Rusoke, the police spokesperson, said they are yet to understand the level of risk that Bobi Wine is exposed to and has forced him into wearing body armour during his campaigns.
‘Mr Kyagulanyi has a special security detail and if he is feeling any risks around him, he has not informed [them] and that is information that he has kept to himself. We have done our best, although from their side, we are getting challenges because their level of cooperation is very low,’ Mr Rusoke said.
He said the police will interrogate the source of Bobi Wine’s body armour and also get further clarification on the matter from the relevant bodies. For the last one-and-half months, Bobi Wine has got involved in direct confrontation with armed security personnel as he tried to save some of his supporters from being beaten, fired upon, or arrested by the police.
In one such fracas in Mbarara District when the police ambushed and descended on his supporters, Bobi Wine jumped out of his car and struggled to stop police officers from pouncing on and dragging away some of his supporters.
Similarly, in Mukono Municipality, Bobi Wine told his supporters to go ahead of him as he stayed on the stage to watch who was being arrested. When the police attempted to arrest a boda boda, he came out to defend him and stop the officers.
Safety
Mr Fred Egesa, a commentator on security matters, said in such close-range confrontation, a bullet can be discharged and hit a candidate and would end in chaos for the country. He said protective gear would be crucial during such an altercation.
‘The body armour will be helpful in that it can deflect a bullet or neutralise it so as not to cause a lot of harm. These body armours are also important for long range shooters who would want to target the candidate,’ he said.
The 2021 presidential election campaign turned chaotic, prompting Bobi Wine to wear a bullet proof vest and helmet only two weeks into the campaign.
On many previous occasions, the police and other security agencies meted out violence on the team of Bobi Wine as many lost lives while others sustained injuries.
On December 28, Bobi Wine’s bodyguard Francis Ssenteza was run over by a military truck and died on the spot. On the same day, Mr Ashraf Kasirye, who was moving on top of the presidential candidate’s car while live streaming the event, was shot with a rubber bullet, rapturing his head.
In the same election campaign in Bugembe Town Council in Jinja District, Bobi Wine was pulled off during a live international TV interview which raised concern about the candidate’s safety with a section of his diaspora advisers, who secured him a body armour.
Bobi Wine at the time said the incidents had been aimed at him but instead hit the people around him. Multiple sources yesterday said a meeting sat immediately after the Monday violence in Kira Municipality to decide on whether or not Bobi Wine should resume wearing a bullet proof vest and helmet.
‘The leaders in the meeting agreed that the principal has to wear a bullet vest so that those that wield power can know that the situation is not good on his side,’ said a source that attended the meeting but preferred to remain anonymous.
Bobi Wine says the recent remarks by police chief Abas Byakagaba are meant to expose him and his team to more brutality and violence from the police and other security agencies.
Bobi Wine also says he has survived multiple assassination attempts referring to the Arua Municipality fatal shooting in 2018 where his bodyguard Yasin Kawuma was shot dead in his car by a sniper.