{"id":14715,"date":"2018-09-11T17:28:56","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T17:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=14715"},"modified":"2018-09-11T17:28:56","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T17:28:56","slug":"bobi-wine-urges-us-to-end-military-aid-to-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=14715","title":{"rendered":"Bobi Wine urges US to end military aid to Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Robert Kyagulanyi<\/a>, a Ugandan pop star-turned-opposition politician whose detention last month drew international attention,\u00a0has called on the United States<\/a>\u00a0to stop supporting his country’s military.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive sit-down interview with Al Jazeera,\u00a0his first for television since receiving treatment<\/a>\u00a0at a hospital in the US, the 36-year-old, who also goes by the stage name Bobi Wine, said\u00a0<\/span>the Ugandan government uses US backing to stifle dissent at home.<\/p>\n

Speaking to current affairs programme Talk to Al Jazeera, Kyagulanyi\u00a0<\/span> <\/span> urged the US Congress to suspend the $800m support for the Ugandan military, which he accuses of torturing him during his detention in August.<\/p>\n

“It’s important, especially to the US taxpayers, to know that much of the military aid we get is actually used to oppress and brutalise the citizens of Uganda,” said Kyagulanyi.<\/p>\n

“The gun that killed my driver that could have probably killed me is an American gun.”<\/p>\n

The MP and vocal opponent of President\u00a0<\/span>Yoweri Museveni<\/a>\u00a0arrived in the US on September 1 to receive treatment after\u00a0he was allegedly tortured by Ugandan security forces – a claim authorities denied but vowed to investigate.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Kyagulanyi had been\u00a0<\/span>arrested and charged with treason<\/a>\u00a0over his alleged role in the stoning of the presidential motorcade<\/span>\u00a0car during a by-election campaign in the northern town of Arua on August 13.\u00a0<\/span> <\/span> Later on the same day,\u00a0Kyagulanyi wrote on Twitter: “Police has shot my driver dead thinking they’ve shot at me.”<\/p>\n

The arrest of the self-styled “Ghetto President”, who was elected to parliament last year as an independent candidate, sparked\u00a0<\/span>protests<\/a>\u00a0and saw the deployment of the army and police on the streets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyagulanyi told Al Jazeera’s Andy Gallacher\u00a0<\/span>he was afraid for his life but that would not stop him from returning home.<\/p>\n

“I am fearful as a man but I don’t have another country. Uganda is my country. So, I either live in a dignified country or I will be remembered as a Ugandan who died trying to make a better Uganda,” he said.<\/p>\n

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Kyagulanyi has been charged with treason for his alleged role in stoning the president’s convoy [AFP]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kyagulanyi represents a\u00a0new challenge<\/a>\u00a0to Museveni,\u00a0emerging as a powerful opposition voice among youths frustrated by Museveni’s 32-year rule, especially after a constitutional amendment last year that removed the presidential age limit of 75.<\/span><\/p>\n

Museveni\u00a0<\/span>took power in 1986 and has since been elected five times. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Kyagulanyi said the opposition is united in their desire for change, in a country where the vast majority of people are under the age of 30.<\/p>\n

“What unites us is not the identities of the political parties or sections that we belong to, but the desire of freedom and liberty that we have,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Our desire as the oppressed people is to redeem ourselves,” added\u00a0Kyagulanyi.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We’ve always wanted to free Uganda<\/a> but that free Uganda should not come at the cost of torture, should not come at the cost of murder or illegal executions … it should be got free because our generation feels like the price has already been paid.<\/p>\n

“We are met with brutal force every time we try to raise our voices, every time we try to seek for the change that we know we constitutionally deserve.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Kyagulanyi’s arrest and detention sparked street protests in Uganda [AP]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Kyagulanyi, a Ugandan pop star-turned-opposition politician whose detention last month drew international attention,\u00a0has called on the United States\u00a0to stop supporting his country’s military. In an exclusive sit-down interview with Al Jazeera,\u00a0his first for television since receiving treatment\u00a0at a hospital in the US, the 36-year-old, who also goes by the stage name Bobi Wine, said\u00a0the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}