On Monday, 25 January 2021, the Ugandan judiciary ended the house arrest of Bobi Wine. The unfortunate presidential candidate on 14 January had been under house arrest since the day after the election. His home, located on the outskirts of Kampala, the capital, was surrounded by soldiers who watched his access.

On Monday, the courts ordered the Ugandan armed forces to end the house arrest of Bobi Wine. “The continued and indefinite restriction (of displacement) of the petitioner in his home is illegal and his right to liberty has been impeded,” said Judge Michael Elubu of the Civil Division of the Ugandan High Court of Justice, a Kampala court on Monday. “ “As these restrictions are considered illegal, we order them removed,” he said.

The Ugandan opponent had called on the international community on Sunday to demand the lifting of his “house arrest”. His home was guarded by soldiers and the police, who refused access and forbade anyone to leave. The Bobi Wine couple, short of food with a baby inside, was not allowed to leave their home, but also to receive their lawyers. Even the US ambassador to Uganda had been prevented from accessing her home and accused of interference by supporters of President Yoweri Museveni.

The Ugandan government justified this house arrest by the need to ensure the “protection” of Bobi Wine and to avoid opposition demonstrations. This while the unhappy candidate had qualified the election as a “masquerade” and rejected its results.

Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine has been under house arrest since Friday, January 15, 2021. The Ugandan opposition leader, who can’t take it anymore, has decided to go on the offensive. Indeed, through his lawyers, he initiated legal proceedings against the Attorney General of the Republic, the Chief of Defence Forces and the Inspector General of the Police of Uganda.

Ugandan opponent Bobi Wine has been under house arrest since the day after the presidential election on 14 January 2021. After several unsuccessful alerts, the opponent decided to take legal action against his country and international courts. Indeed, a complaint for arbitrary detention has been filed with the United Nations (UN) while the High Court of Kampala will rule on the case on Monday 25 January. “Nigerian human rights lawyer Femi Falana has filed this complaint on my behalf with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Arrests. We challenge my continued illegal imprisonment by the police and the Ugandan army,” Bobi Wine tweeted on Wednesday.

Already Sunday, the Ugandan opponent had called on the international community to demand the lifting of his “house arrest”. He has not left his home in Kampala since he went to vote on Thursday. His home is surrounded by soldiers and police who refuse access and prohibit anyone from leaving.During an exchange with journalists via Zoom on a “clandestine” line, Bobi Wine said: “We are here, we have no more food and no one is allowed in or out. We’re out of food, but when my wife tried to go into our garden to get food the military attacked her, the only thing we can do is call on the world and the citizens of the world to help her,” he said worried.

The Bobi Wine couple is therefore not allowed to leave their home, but also to receive their lawyers. The police forces monitoring the entrance to the residence refused them access. Indeed, one of his advisers, George Musisi, who hoped to have access to his client’s home, since it is not a detention centre, had met with the firmness of the police officers who received firm instructions.”Sixth day under house arrest and we are still stuck with an 18-month-old baby who had visited his aunt (my wife) before we were attacked and besieged. Dad was denied the right to see him. We’re out of food and milk.No one is allowed out or into our concession,” the Ugandan opposition leader tweeted on Tuesday.

Long before Bobi Wine, opponent Kizza Besigye had also been forced to stay at his home for several weeks after the results of the 2016 presidential election he lost against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

President Yoweri Museveni was re-elected for a sixth term on Saturday, 16 January 2021. It obtained 58.64% of the votes cast according to the Independent Electoral Commission. The singer Bobi Wine, who became a politician, collected 34.83% for an overall voter turnout of 57.22%/

Yoweri Museveni, aged 76, was a candidate for his own succession. Its 58.64% represents 2,850,000 votes cast and its main challenger has 34.83% or 3,775,000 of the votes. 

The president of the Electoral Commission, Simon Mugenyi Byabakama called for calm and losers to accept the results. The rallies have been banned.

Bobi Wine, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu of his real name, has already called on his supporters to reject these results. According to him, he is largely the winner of this election.  He denounces fraud in this electoral process which he contests. He promises to provide evidence once internet access is restored. Bobi Wine’s party, the Platform for National Unity (NUP), did not rule out the possibility of demonstrations. It should be noted that law enforcement forces have been surrounding his home since Friday.

Yoweri Museveni has been in power since 1986, 35 years as head of state. He will begin a sixth term thanks to his victory in this election, which was crucial for all Ugandans. A former guerrilla, Yoweri Museveni was first applauded as a modern democrat. He was seen as an architect of the fall of the bloodthirsty dictator Idi Amin Dada and Milton Obote in 1979. However, after putting an end to this rigid regime, he gradually turned into an authoritarian president. His party, the National Resistance Movement, twice amended the Constitution with the sole objective of keeping it in power.

Many issues are now awaiting him. The first challenge is the development of the national economy, weakened by the covid-19 pandemic.