Museveni bans welcoming party for returning Bobi Wine
By NAHASHON MUSUNGUAnother showdown is looming between the Ugandan government and musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine who is expected back in the country on Thursday.
Bobi Wine is expected back in the country following a three-week medical trip to the USA, but the Ugandan government has warned him against ‘making an issue’ of his much-anticipated homecoming.
“We consider his absence as a much ado. He should not make his return an issue. By attempting to make it an issue would appear as if the government of Uganda sent him away and he is afraid of returning,” government spokesman Ofwono Opondowas quoted by the Ugandan media.
But to this a defiant Bobi Wine has told the government to ‘stop deciding’ on who will pick him from the airport when he jets back home.
“I’m coming back this Thursday and I encourage citizens to continue struggling for a better Uganda. The people we are scared of are actually very scared of us. They don’t know how to deal with a united group of young people,” he said in a video posted on his official Facebook page.
Bobi Wine announced his planned return on his social media pages on Tuesday amid reports that President Yoweri Museveni’s government would deploy heavy security on the streets of Kampala to contain the crowds expected to line up the roads to welcome him back home.
PEOPLE POWER
He also denied claims by the government that members of his ‘People Power’ movement are violent.
“People Power is not about Bobi Wine but all the people struggling to have a better country. I’m only just one of the more 40 million Ugandans that continue to suffer,” he said.
“We’re not a group of violent people. We despise violence and are not associated with violent whatsoever. I have been telling you right from the beginning that we should be peaceful but assertive,” he added.
Bobi Wine sought specialized care in the USA early this month following a two-week detention by the Ugandan government. He spent half of the time of his incarceration in military confinement.
He would later claim that while in custody he was tortured.
Bobi Wine’s medical trip abroad further publicized his plight with several international media houses interviewing him and doing follow up stories.