Police in Uganda have recanted their earlier statement concerning the suspected shooting of opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
Police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma in a change of tune on Wednesday, September 4, said that they were in the process of conducting fresh investigations surrounding the incident.
He further noted that the story could have a negative impression on the police service.
“We are insisting that until we carry out investigations, we are a professional body, we cannot jump to any conclusions. We can only conclude on the basis of a professional finding,” Kituuma said.
At the same time, police indicated that they were aware of the videos circulating online about the matter, stating that they could not rely on them.
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“It would be strange for police to watch a video footage on a social media platform and draw a conclusion. We have not descended to such levels,” he added.
Police Issue Statement on Alleged Shooting of Bobi Wine
Earlier, police had indicated that Bobi Wine had sustained the injury while getting into his car during a confrontation with the police.
The Ugandan Police force has since retraced the statement noting that the reality in the matter would only be established after a thorough investigation.
“We don’t want to get into the arguments of injury by bullett or by a stumble; we want an opportunity to prove it, which must be medical and must go through professional investigators,” Kituuma noted.
Meanwhile, Bobi Wine, the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader- is recovering after spending the night in Nsambya Hospital. Bobi Wine was injured following the latest violent altercation involving him and security officers, according to a party lawyer.
Bobi Wine’s party claimed that their leader was injured when a teargas canister was shot towards him, wounding his left lower leg on Tuesday during a condemned confrontation with security officers in Wakiso District.
Overnight, NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi said X-ray reports showed “there were some fragments from a tear-gas canister embedded in Bobi Wine’s leg.”
An operation to remove the fragments was scheduled for September 4, according to medical experts at the health facility in Kampala.
Opposition Leaders Condemn Incident
Meanwhile, Musisi noted that NUP lawyers and officials will on Wednesday head to Kira police in an attempt to free at least four detainees and three motorbikes seized during the altercation as Bobi Wine returned from a private function at the lawyer’s invitation.
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Veteran opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye on Wednesday denounced the “horrible outcome of what, as usual, is totally uncalled for police aggression against political opposition”.
“From Ssenyonyi’s brief, the injuries Kyagulanyi suffered are from the tear ball grenades (usually blue coloured), that police liberally employ as part of persecution- not policing!” he wrote on X (former Twitter).
“We condemn the UPF for its continued rampant abuse of Human Rights.” Former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga demanded that police “explains this brutal and high-handed attack.”
In 2018, Bobi Wine’s bodyguard-driver Yasin Kawuma was shot dead as security officers viciously arrested Bobi Wine in Northern Uganda during parliamentary by election activities.
Bobi Wine and his supporters had been accused by Ugandan authorities of stoning President Museveni’s convoy, which they deny.
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