Ugandan police on Saturday denied claims by opposition leader Bobi Wine’s party that President Yoweri Museveni was arrested by soldiers as he faces a landslide re-election bid.
Mr Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) announced on Friday night that a military helicopter had landed at his compound in Kampala and he was “forcibly taken to an unknown destination”. Reuters could not immediately confirm this claim.
National Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke told a televised news conference that Wine was at home and moving freely.
“He has not been arrested,” Rusoke said. Representatives for Wine and NUP were not immediately available for comment.
Wine alleges massive fraud in Thursday’s election, which was held under an internet blackout, and called on his supporters to protest.
His party announced Thursday that he had been placed under de facto house arrest.
The vote is widely seen as a test of the 81-year-old Museveni’s political strength and ability to avert the unrest that has rocked neighboring Tanzania and Kenya.
As of Saturday morning, Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, held an overwhelming lead with about 72% of the vote, according to the electoral commission. Wine followed with 24%, with more than 90% of voting stations counted.
Thursday’s vote passed peacefully after an election campaign marred by clashes at opposition rallies and widespread repression and intimidation by the United Nations.
But the violence broke out early Friday in Butambara, a town about 55 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala, according to a police spokesperson and the region’s parliamentarian. Different accounts were given of the circumstances of the incident.
Local police spokeswoman Lydia Tumusabe said machete-wielding opposition “thugs” organized by local lawmaker Mwanga Kivumbi attacked police stations and vote counting centres.
“The security services responded in self-defense because these people came in large numbers. The police fired in self-defense,” she told Reuters, adding that 25 people were arrested.
But Kivumbi told Reuters the victims were killed at around 3am as they waited in their home for the results of the election for his seat to be announced.
“They killed 10 people inside my house,” he said. “There were people in the garage waiting for the results to celebrate my victory.”
“They broke down the front door and started shooting inside the garage. It was a massacre.”
He said security forces first dispersed the crowd outside, but disputed police claims that the deaths occurred during clashes between the two sides.
Police spokesperson Tumushabe said he was not aware of the incident at Kivumbi’s home, which was near the police station.
Reuters could not independently confirm the circumstances of the violence.
