Bobi Wine reported abducted from home amid nationwide internet blackout

Security forces in Uganda abducted the country’s main opposition leader, Bobi Wine, from his home, his party said on Friday, a day before the electoral commission was expected to declare President Yoweri Museveni the winner. Mr. Wine’s National Unity Platform said on X that “an army helicopter” had landed in his compound and “forcibly” taken him away “to an unknown destination.” The party posted the message about 9:50 p.m.

local time and said that about an hour earlier security forces had cut the house’s electricity, were attempting to break in and that Mr. Wine’s guards had been assaulted. Uganda has been under a nationwide internet blackout since two days before the election, an outage officials said was to ensure security.

The blackout has sharply reduced information flow and blocked email, social media and WhatsApp for many Ugandans, though cellular service remains available. Mr. Wine, a former pop star whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, lives just outside Kampala and had warned this week that he feared rigging, predicted an internet cut and said he might be placed under house arrest.

Authorities have deployed thousands of police and military forces into Kampala to prevent protests, and by late Friday few people or vehicles were visible in the city center. It was not immediately possible to reach Uganda’s police or Mr. Wine’s party for further details, and the reported destination of his removal remains unknown.

Key Topics

World, Bobi Wine, Yoweri Museveni, National Unity Platform, Uganda, Internet Blackout