Ugandan opposition leader Wine withdraws election result challenge

On Monday, Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said he was withdrawing a court case challenging the outcome of the presidential election that handed victory to incumbent Yoweri Museveni, claiming prejudice by judges of the Supreme Court hearing the case.

“We have decided to withdraw from their court,” Bobi Wine told a news conference in the capital Kampala.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, rejected the January election results and said that he felt victory had been robbed from him. Wine, 39, a pop star and a politician, asked the court to overturn the results on many grounds, including the excessive use of intimidation.

“The courts are not independent, it is clear these people (judges) are working for Mr. Museveni,” Wine told reporters.

Solomon Muyita, a judiciary spokesman, told reporters that they will only respond to Wine’s accusations and decision to withdraw the case when he has formally quit the case through his lawyers.

“Right now what he has done is, he has only made a political statement, as far as the records of the Supreme Court are (concerned) the case is still there,” he said.