Africa

The Ugandan opponent Bobi Wine warns that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “consolidates the dictators in Africa”

The Ugandan singer, politician and opponent Bobi Wine during an interview for Europa Press, at the Impact Hub, on June 20, 2023, in Madrid (Spain).


The Ugandan singer, politician and opponent Bobi Wine during an interview for Europa Press, at the Impact Hub, on June 20, 2023, in Madrid (Spain). – Diego Radames – Europa Press

Follow live the latest news about the war in Ukraine

He says he has won the 2021 elections and asks the international community to monitor the next elections

Urges to impose sanctions against Museveni and those who “undermine democracy and Human Rights”

June 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Ugandan deputy and opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, has warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has seriously affected the country and serves to “consolidate the dictators in Africa”, where the war has caused an increase in prices.

“The impact of the Russian war has been brutal. First, it has increased the prices of grain and other food coming from Ukraine much more, but, more importantly, it has allowed the consolidation of dictators in Africa and, particularly, in Uganda” , has asserted during an interview with Europa Press.

Bobi Wine, who has stressed that almost all dictators “are allies and friends” of the current president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, recalled that the country is “under a military dictatorship” in which “the law is not respected.”

It is for this reason, as he has claimed, that there is a need to “introduce constitutional reforms” that allow the situation to change and favor the creation of a Government that “settles its accounts” before the Justice.

However, he regretted that as the opposition works to achieve this objective, the authorities “also implement measures to curtail the freedoms of the population when choosing their own leaders.” “We believe in amendments, we believe in laying down the law,” he has said.

On the possibility that these types of measures are introduced to promote political change in Uganda, where Museveni has been in power since 1986, he has asserted that the opposition “does not expect significant changes due to the control exercised” by the head of state.

MAKING CHANGE IN UGANDA

The opposition leader has stressed that there are “few windows of opportunity to achieve change in Uganda” in the face of future electoral processes, although the opposition “will not cool off.” “Although the elections are not free and fair, they are the only tool we have and we are going to participate,” he stated.

“It’s our only platform. If we boycott the elections we would have to find another way. This would require using violence or asking people to go out into the streets. We would like to call on the population to protest, but the last time we had demonstrations Hundreds of people were killed and the international community did nothing,” he said.

In this sense, he has stressed that they decided to run for the elections held in January 2021, which he has come to describe as “the most fraudulent in the history” of the country, “despite the fact that they did not expect to be announced as winners.”

“I won the 2021 elections, but they put me under house arrest and Museveni declared himself the winner,” he explained before stressing that this allowed “to obtain the international attention that the opposition needed.” “Now we need a lot of international attention so that someone is watching us when we go back to the polls,” he continued.

However, he has thanked the Spanish Government and the international community for the “support” offered to Uganda, especially from the European Union and in terms of “health and education”. Kyagulanyi has praised the “values” of the community block and has taken the opportunity to request the imposition of sanctions against Museveni and “those who undermine democracy and Human Rights.”

Despite the situation in the African country, the well-known opponent has declared that he “hopes that the Ugandan dictatorship will finally be brought to justice”, but has admitted that for the moment “they seem to be untouchable”.

TORTURE AND ABUSE

In relation to the situation of Human Rights in the country and the cases of abuse and torture, he regretted that “there are no exact data because the numbers rise day by day.” “People are being kidnapped as we speak, so the numbers keep going up and, of course, they go down every time we make noise, every time we use social media to expose these cases,” she said.

Bobi Wine has warned that many of the people arrested who are later released show “marks of torture” and has again vindicated the need for “better governance” for Uganda with the aim of “putting an end to corruption”.

The country is going through its biggest economic crisis, as denounced, for which “no measure is implemented.” “Not even the money collected is used. The legal tender is corruption and we have to put an end to this,” he stressed.

ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIANS

The opponent, who has condemned the attack perpetrated last week by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) against a school in Kasese in which more than 40 people died, has asserted that the security situation in Uganda “has always been at a point of crisis”.

“There has been a crisis of armed violence (…) and it continues,” he stated before clarifying that there is “conflicting information” about what happened at the school. “Museveni’s wife, the first lady, Janet, who is also education minister, has said that the attack was perpetrated over a land dispute and that two sides were fighting over the land where the school was located,” she said. .

However, it has put on the table the possibility of a “false flag attack”, something that “has already taken place in the past”. “It is very possible that it is about this, but it could also be an attack perpetrated by militiamen, whether they are from the ADF or Islamists. We have yet to establish the causes, but unfortunately we cannot trust what the government tells us,” he said. cleared up.

“A false flag attack would have the objective of diverting people’s attention from other matters. (…) The fact that this type of attack has taken place in the past already makes us question this attack,” he insisted.

LGBTI ISSUE

Subsequently, during an event organized by the World Liberty Congress and The Brenthurst Foundation in Madrid, Bobi Wine addressed the recent Ugandan anti-LGBTI law, which contemplates more severe punishments, including the death penalty and life imprisonment for homosexual people, and He has detailed that it is “a narrative used by those in power to stop the population from talking about corruption.”

“These ideas are spread through the churches, through the pastors, so that people forget what is happening,” he said before stating that “dictators love to use this type of narrative to blame third parties.”

Thus, he has indicated that those who defend Human Rights “are sometimes designated as agents of the West.” “They compare us with agents of the CIA (United States Central Intelligence Agency) or communist agents,” she recounted before specifying that in Uganda “colonialism still has meaning and provokes reactions in the hearts of the people.”

Uganda already criminalized homosexual acts, but the new law further toughens the punishment, with a possible death sentence if the relationships involve minors or involve the transmission of a disease. The only way to stop its application is through the courts.

Organizations defending Human Rights have criticized the text, as have governments such as the United States, an important trading partner of the African country. Washington has threatened to impose sanctions over a law that Secretary of State Antony Blinken says raises “concern.”

Source link