Ugandan opposition leader, Bobi Wine whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, stated that his party intends to take legal action against the Ugandan police following an altercation with officers earlier this week.
The vocal critic of Uganda’s authoritarian President, Yoweri Museveni, said he was struck by a tear gas canister thrown by police during the clash on Tuesday.
Initially, Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) claimed that the 42-year-old was shot in the leg, but the Ugandan police asserted that he had stumbled and injured himself.
“We are going to sue these criminal police officers,” Wine said at a press conference at his residence in Magere outside the capital Kampala.
“I’m a very very lucky man,” he said after walking into the event on crutches, describing it as the fourth “assassination attempt” against him.
He said he and his party members were leaving a gathering in Bulindo town, approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Kampala, when a police officer discharged tear gas through the open roof of their vehicle.
“When I stepped out of the car, one of the commanders ordered ‘shoot him’, pointing at me. He pulled out a pistol,” he said.
“He went around our car and grabbed a tear gas canister from another officer and threw it at me. The canister exploded on my foot and injured my leg.”
The opposition leader was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after undergoing surgery for the injury. Bobi Wine and his party have long been a thorn in Museveni’s side.
He has been detained or put under house arrest many times and his party rallies have been violently disrupted since he challenged Museveni in the 2021 election.
Following Tuesday’s event, the US State Department expressed concern about the narrowing democratic space in Uganda.
The UN Human Rights Office said it was worried about reports of excessive use of force by the police and emphasised the need for respecting freedom of speech, expression and the right to peaceful assembly.
Uganda is set to hold elections in January 2026, five years after 79-year-old Museveni was re-elected for a sixth term.
The opposition criticised the 2021 election as fraudulent, citing a campaign characterised by intimidation, arrests of opposition members, and violence.