KAMPALA,
Uganda
Ugandan soldiers stood down their positions around the residence of National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Bobi Wine on Tuesday, a day after a court ordered an end to the confinement of the presidential runner-up.
Bobi Wine, a popstar-turned-MP whose real name
is Robert Kyagulanyi, had been under de-facto house arrest at his home outside
the capital Kampala since he returned from voting in January 14's election.
For 11 days heavily armed soldiers and police
officers surrounding the property had prevented members of Wine's household,
including his wife Barbie, from leaving their compound, as well as denying
access to visitors.
But security forces withdrew from around Bobi Wine's
house on Tuesday, allowing the opposition leader to convene with newly-elected
MPs from his NUP for the first time since the vote he says was rigged.
"I was put under illegal detention in my
own house because General Museveni did not win," he said, referring to
long-running President Yoweri Museveni.
"He is staging a coup against the will of
the people of Uganda," Bobi Wine told MPs, supporters, party activists and
reporters gathered on his lawn.
A police helicopter was seen hovering in the
sky above Bobi Wine's home, while local law enforcement manned a single road
checkpoint near his residence.
The High Court on Monday ruled in favour of a petition lodged by Wine's lawyers asking for his release, saying his "continued indefinite restriction and confinement" was unlawful.
The Ugandan government had argued that the
restrictions on Wine's movements were "preventative" measures for his
own protection and to prevent protests against the election result, which
delivered Museveni a sixth term.
Bobi Wine has urged his supporters to reject
the results as a sham, but has stopped short of calling for protests.
However he warned Museveni -- who has been in power uninterrupted since 1986 -- that other long-ruling African leaders like Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir had been ousted by popular uprisings for overstaying their welcome.
"We want Museveni out of office in less
than a year," Bobi Wine said, without elaborating.
The run-up to Uganda's presidential and
parliamentary vote was marred by the worst pre-election bloodshed in years, and
a sustained crackdown on government critics and Museveni's rivals, most notably
Bobi Wine. - AFP
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