Uganda Opposition Files Lawsuit Challenging Election Outcome
Uganda’s Opposition Leader Bobi Wine Files Lawsuit Challenging Election Outcome
(Bloomberg) -- Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine asked the East African nation’s Supreme Court to overturn the outcome of a Jan. 14 presidential election, saying the vote was marred by “numerous irregularities.”
The pop star-turned-politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, delayed filing the challenge after he was forced into an 11-day house arrest following the vote, which blocked him from meeting his lawyers.
President Yoweri Museveni, 76, secured a sixth term in office after a campaign that was marred by violence, with at least 54 people dying after protests that erupted because of Wine’s arrest in November. Wine said more than 400 supporters, including members of his campaign team, were arrested.
The petition filed on Monday against Museveni, the Electoral Commission and the nation’s attorney general, said there were many instances of ballot boxes being stuffed and declaration forms altered, according to Hamza Sekiddo, one of Bobi Wine’s lawyers. The petition is expected to be heard within 45 and 55 days, he said in the capital, Kampala.
The electoral agency and Museveni have denied allegations of rigging.
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