Uganda's army chief and son of newly re-elected President Yoweri Museveni said Friday that 30 opposition supporters were killed and 2,000 arrested following the vote.
The leader of the opposition Bobi Wine remained in hiding Friday after accusing security forces of searching his home following the Jan. 15 election. He called the vote "shameless theft" and called to demonstrate.
Museveni, 81, won a seventh term with 72% of the vote to Wine's 25%, according to the Electoral Commission. African observers and international NGOs have criticized one strong repression of the opposition as well as the internet shutdown.
"We arrested over 2,000 thugs that Kabobi thought they were using", the army chief wrote on X Muhoozi Kainerugaba, using his nickname to refer to Wine. "So far we have killed 30 NUP terrorists", he added, referring to Wine's party, the National Unity Platform.
Kainerugaba, 51, is known for his provocative, often vulgar, stances on social media. He does not hide his ambition to succeed his father and this week threatened to hunt down and kill Wine. He mixed his latest statements on opposition with jokes of a sexist nature.
Among those arrested in recent days is the opposition MP Muwanga Kivumbi, originally from the Butambala region, in the center of the’Uganda, where the most serious violence on Election Day was reported.
Kivumbi told AFP that security forces killed ten of his campaign agents after storming his home, while police said his supporters were shot dead after trying to burn down a counting center and a police station.
An opposition lawyer told AFP on Wednesday that more than 600 people had been arrested as part of the post-election protests.
"In all cases, our clients deny the accusations. Some claim to have been arrested at home by the police and imprisoned before appearing (in court) on charges of which they were not aware, lawyer Erias Lukwago told AFP.
