Eight members of a music band arrested for allegedly “insulting” the president of Uganda

The suspects would have complained about the length of a speech by the president during an event at a hotel in Kampala

April 8 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Ugandan authorities have detained eight members of a musical group for allegedly “insulting” the country's president, Yoweri Museveni, by complaining that a speech he gave over the weekend at an event in the capital, Kampala, was too long.

Museveni gave a speech at a Kampala hotel on Saturday during events celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, during which members of the Crane Performers band reportedly complained about the length of the speech.

According to information collected by the Uganda Radio Network, the members of the band complained in the Runyankole language, stating what would roughly translate as “you talk a lot, we are tired, put down the microphone.”

Ugandan security sources have stated that these words surprised many of those present, after which a member of the special forces identified members of the gang as responsible for the statements, which led to the arrest of eight of them.

After that, all of them have been charged with insulting the president, without the Police, the gang or the president himself having commented on this fact, described as “a tense situation” by Ugandan security sources.

Museveni, who has been in office since 1996, won a sixth term in January 2021 in an election that the main opposition candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, considered was fraudulent, amid what his critics They consider it as an increase in repression and its authoritarian drift at the head of the African country.