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Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine said on Tuesday that soldiers raided his home and arrested his security guards as the country prepared to go to the polls in two days.
“The army attacked my home this morning, arrested all my security guards and anyone they saw in my premises,” Wine, who is the opposition frontrunner, said on Twitter.
“No reason for the arrest has been given,” said the 38-year-old musician-turned-politician, who seeks to oust long-time President Yoweri Museveni.
The arrests took place while Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, was doing a live radio interview with Kenya’s Hot 96 FM station.
The Ugandan army and police have yet to comment on Wine’s statement.
Some 18 million Ugandans have registered to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections on Thursday. Wine is the favorite among 10 contestants who challenge Museveni.
The 76-year-old former guerrilla leader took power in 1986; critics say Museveni abused his position to silence the opposition.
Dozens of anti-government protesters have been killed in a campaign marked by a crackdown on Wine rallies.
Meanwhile, journalists covering opposition rallies have been attacked, government critics jailed and election observers prosecuted. This raised concerns about the transparency and fairness of the electoral process.
The bloodshed, particularly the deaths of 54 people in two days of protests in November, has been widely condemned abroad.
Wine last week urged the International Criminal Court to investigate the Ugandan government into the crackdown.
Authorities say the opposition politician has repeatedly ignored restrictions on gatherings to stop the spread of COVID-19. Wine has been arrested several times during the campaign and has been charged in court for what officials called coronavirus regulatory violations.
Museveni announced on Twitter that he would address the nation at 7 p.m. local time (4 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday.
He has repeatedly accused Wine of being “an agent of foreign interests” without providing any evidence for his allegations.
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