UGANDAN opposition leader Bobi Wine said Saturday that he had escaped a police raid on his home and was in hiding as the country braced for the results of a fraught election held under an internet blackout.
Earlier reports by his party suggested that Wine was forcibly taken away in an army helicopter from his home on Friday, a day after elections marred by reports of violence.
The President Yoweri Museveni, 81, looked set to be declared winner and extend his 40-year rule in an election marred by reports of at least 10 deaths and intimidation of the opposition and civil society.
As Uganda endured a tense wait after Thursday’s polls, Museveni had a commanding lead against Wine, 43, a former singer turned politician who was arrested ahead of Uganda’s last election in 2021.
With final results due around 1200 GMT Saturday, there were conflicting reports about Wine’s whereabouts, following claims that police and the army had raided his home on Friday night.
“I want to confirm that I managed to escape from them,” Wine posted on X on Saturday. “Currently, I am not at home, although my wife and other family members remain under house arrest.
“I know that these criminals are looking for me everywhere, and I am trying my best to keep safe,” he added.
There was a heavy police presence around the capital, Kampala, AFP journalists saw, with security forces forcing people off the streets as they sought to prevent the sort of protests that have hit neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania in recent months.
Police said they had “controlled access in areas we feel are security hotspots”.
“We have not necessarily denied people accessing (Wine), but we cannot tolerate instances where people use his residence to gather and… incite violence,” police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke told reporters.
A stall-owner near Wine’s home, 29-year-old Prince Jerard, told AFP he had heard a drone and helicopter at the residence the previous night, with a heavy security presence.
“Many people have left (the area),” he said. “We have a lot of fear.”
With more than 90 per cent of votes counted on Saturday, Museveni was leading on 71.9 per cent to Wine’s 24.5 per cent, the Electoral Commission said.
Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as the main challenger to Museveni in recent years, styling himself the “ghetto president” after the Kampala slum areas where he grew up.
He has accused the government of “massive ballot stuffing” and attacking several of his party officials under cover of the internet blackout, which was imposed ahead of the polls and remained in place on Saturday.