Numerous supporters of Bobi Wine are being detained by the Ugandan police

At a Friday prayer rally that was sponsored by musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine, Ugandan police used tear gas and detained more than 30 opposition supporters. According to authorities, the conference was unlawful since its planners neglected to notify the police chief before organising it.

Ugandan police say that at least 30 members of Bobi Wine’s opposition party were arrested while attending a prayer gathering hosted by the United Forces of Change.

People who had been arrested, killed, or kidnapped were to be prayed for, as well as all supporters of the opposition, especially those from Wine’s National Unity Platform, whose whereabouts have been unknown for the past two years.

The Forum for Democratic Change and the Conservative Party were additional opposition parties.

But Lucas Owoyesigyire, the deputy spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, told VOA by phone that the opposition organisation did not give the Inspector General of Police Okoth Ochola advance notice of the prayer meeting so he could set up security for it due to continuous terrorism threats.

Owoyesigyire declared, “This was a public place, and they ought to have informed the IGP about this, particularly the venue’s owners.” Therefore, we were unable to permit them to proceed with this.

Owoyesigyire additionally said, “At CPS [Central Police Station], we have a few suspects, but they are older than 30.”

They had paid for the location, but when they arrived on Friday morning, the police and army had cordoned off the location, forcing them to pray outside, according to Ugandan politician Joel Ssenyonyi, who spoke to VOA.

“When we arrived, one of the guys with the most peeps was there,” Senyonyi said. “We asked him to speak with us and please come. He objected to going. They couldn’t let us inside because we were standing at the gate. The law requires notification but does not require approval.We informed them and urged them to provide security for our celebration to go on uninterrupted because we were going to be indoors.

In the previous two years, especially before the 2021 general elections, a number of opposition supporters have been bundled into vans and brought to both recognised and undisclosed detention camps.

While several have returned disfigured, claiming torture, many others are reported to either have died or still be in custody. The opposition said that it had given these names to parliament more than once. It said that security was keeping them and that it had asked the administration for an explanation in vain.

To date, the abductions have continued— that of a 17-year-old lad picked up from his place of employment as he peeled potatoes.

Speaking to VOA, the boy’s mother, Nambazira Sauda, recounted that on November 5, a friend of her son alerted her about her son’s absence. Since then, Sauda said she has looked into all known places where people are being held, but she hasn’t found her son. She is worried that he may be dead.

“They say when a child is dying, a mother has birth pangs,” she remarked. “I go to the bathroom all the time; I don’t eat, I don’t drink, I lose my senses.” “As soon as I get going, I realise I’m coming from the opposite side.”

She remarked, “My son is young. They ought to murder me instead,” I said.

Yoweri Museveni, the president, has recently said he is not aware of any kidnappings taking place in the nation. He also says that mistakes made by security officers on the job are being fixed.

The precise number of members of the opposition group who are either killed or in custody is still unknown.