Police have surrounded the home of Ugandan popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine, a day after canceling his nationwide shows, the musician said.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, alleged that officers were also searching visitors to his home in Magere north of Kampala capital.
“Police and the military have been deployed at my residence since yesterday, after the violent arrest. My home is under siege. They have surrounded my fence and installed barricades on all roads leading to my home,” he said in a Facebook post.
The MP has been in a standoff with the Ugandan authorities since Monday after his shows were canceled because police said they failed to meet safety standards, prompting widespread protests.
Wine was removed from his car by police and escorted to his home while heading to a briefing he had called to address the concert cancellation and “police brutality” on Monday.
Footage posted on the singer’s Twitter account showed dozens of police officers wearing helmets and carrying shields and batons surrounding the singer’s car.
In a statement on his Facebook page later that day, Wine said police have now canceled 124 of his shows across the country.
“We shall peacefully demonstrate against these illegalities by police,” the singer said, and he vowed to lead a protest to the national police headquarters on Tuesday.
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CNN was not able to immediately reach the Ugandan police for comment on whether Wine was under house arrest or not.
However, a spokesman told CNN on Monday that they used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters, amid concerns over safety standards.
“Tear gas and water cannons, that is obvious, that is the process of dispersing crowds. It was just two canisters, and we didn’t use live bullets for this purpose,” Engaga told CNN.
“We asked him and his promoters to work with us until the safety standards of over 10,000 people are met, you know emergency cases, sniffer dogs and enough security…They threatened to go ahead with the concert and turned it into a protest,” he added.
“We managed to pick him and two of his promoters and escort them to their homes. Our officers professionally managed to calm the situation,” Engaga said.
The 36-year-old reggae star has signaled his interest to unseat one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, Yoweri Museveni, and has continued to speak out against his regime.
He won his parliamentary seat as an independent in 2017 and has since rallied opposition lawmakers to his side in his bid to end Museveni’s 32-year-old rule in Uganda.
His performances scheduled to hold in Uganda were canceled last year, and some of his songs that are highly critical of the government have been banned in the past.