Uganda opposition candidate says he was beaten by security forces

KAMPALA, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Uganda’s opposition candidate Bobi Wine said he was beaten alongside his aides and supporters by security forces while campaigning in the country’s north, in an escalation of violence ahead of the country’s presidential election on January 15.

Wine, a pop star-turned-politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is challenging 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni for the second time after coming second in the last election in 2021.

In a series of posts on his X account late on Saturday, Wine said he was hit in the face with a cane and that other supporters were also beaten and had to be hospitalised, as they approached a campaign venue in Gulu, the biggest city in Uganda’s north.

“Criminals in police and military uniform attacked us with sticks and stones