Uganda: Opponents called for “active measures” before the elections

Ugandan opposition leader Bobby Wayne urged the international community to support the election challenges with “tough measures” against President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

Wondering his loss to the long-awaited leader in last month’s presidential election, Wayne expressed hope that “the world will stand with the people of Uganda.”

“General Museveni, like all tyrants, is unaffected by words,” said Wayne, a 38-year-old singer and lawmaker whose real name is Kyagolani Sentamu. He spoke to the press via a video link from his home on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala, where he said he was under house arrest.

“We hope that there will be no further movement after the strong statements,” he said of the international condemnation of the elections.

Wayne said he was pleased with MTV Base Africa’s decision to postpone the awards ceremony scheduled for the coming weeks under pressure from activists who said the event would improve the government’s image.

Museveni, 76, an ally of the United States who took power in a coup in 1986 and was elected multiple times. He has cooperated with Washington in fighting the extremist insurgency in Somalia, where Uganda was the first country to send troops to defend the weak federal government.

However, Museveni’s relations with the West appear to be cooling off amid allegations of alleged abuse by his security forces and his remaining in power. Now he accuses Wayne of being a foreign agent and says that foreign interference in the country “will not be tolerated.”