Pop-Star Politician in Uganda Considers Running for President

(Bloomberg) -- A Ugandan pop star-turned-politician who goes by the stage name Bobi Wine may challenge the East African nation’s ruler of more than three decades at a vote two years away.

“I and my team, we are seriously considering challenging President Museveni in the next presidential election,” Robert Kyagulanyi said Thursday in an interview with CNN.

A few months ago, the opposition lawmaker and his team began mobilizing young people in the East African nation to register as voters, he said during the interview.

Kyagulanyi returned to Uganda in September after receiving medical treatment in the U.S. for injuries he said were sustained during his detention in northwestern Uganda the previous month. The 36-year-old has been charged with treason after supporters allegedly threw stones at a convoy carrying President Yoweri Museveni, 74, in August. The lawmaker has dismissed the accusations as politically motivated.

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“Bobi Wine is being presumptive, perhaps to ride on Museveni’s name to gain some international attention,” government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said in a statement sent to CNN.

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