Leading Uganda opposition figure Bobi Wine arrested

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine was on Wednesday arrested with his campaign team while travelling in an island region outside the capital, Kampala.

Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has been arrested many times and accused of disrupting public order.

President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power since 1986, faces a strong challenge in elections in January from the popular singer and lawmaker, who has rallied impoverished young people.

Wine had on Wednesday travelled to the Kalangala District, an island in Lake Victoria, where he was arrested by security forces and airlifted to Kampala.

Scores of his supporters, bloggers and several journalists were also arrested during the operation.

An official from Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP) said the military had tried to "usurp the powers of the people".

"You really wonder whether anybody would claim this is an election," added Mathias Mpuuga, NUP Deputy President for the Central Region.

Police in a statement, released through their social media platforms, downplayed the arrest and said they only restrained Wine because of his continuous abuse of the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the country's electoral body.