Ugandan security forces have surrounded the headquarters of the main opposition party in advance of a planned antigovernment rally over alleged corruption and human rights abuses.
Police and soldiers cut off access to the office of the National Unity Platform (NUP), which sits near the capital, Kampala, on Monday. The threat of protests has angered longtime President Yoweri Museveni, who claimed it to be a plot being operated by unnamed “foreigners”.
NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi claimed that the blockade prevented people from entering or leaving, while some have been roughly detained.
“These cowards have turned the National Unity Platform Headquarters into a military barracks,” he wrote on X.
Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, added that several opposition leaders had been “violently arrested”.
Bobi Wine, 42, a pop star turned politician, has in recent years emerged as the biggest challenger to Museveni.
The 79-year-old has ruled the East African nation since 1986. However, Ugandan youth have spearheaded unrest recently, and are planning to march to parliament on Tuesday to protest against alleged widespread corruption and human rights abuses.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said security forces had taken precautionary steps against what he called NUP’s “mobilisation for the protest”.
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