Bobi Wine Withdraws Election Petition From Ugandan Court

Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as
Bobi Wine, said on Monday he was withdrawing his case over election
fraud from the country’s highest court, the media reported.

The singer-turned-politician ran against longtime incumbent
President Yoweri Museveni in the January election.

The country’s electoral commission declared Museveni won a sixth
term with over 58 percent of the vote, something Bobi Wine disputed
as fraudulent.

“We are withdrawing from the courts but we are not opting for
violence.

“We are withdrawing the case from Mr. Owiny Dollo’s court,” he
said, as reported by Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper.

Judge Dollo and two other judges refused to recuse themselves
from the case, despite calls from Bobi Wine to do so claiming they
had close ties to the president, the Monitor reported.

The ruling National Resistance Movement threatened to force Bobi
Wine to pay legal expenses incurred during the short-lived court
case, something his lawyer said he was willing to do, the newspaper
reported.

Bobi Wine drew international attention for his unlikely bid to
unseat Museveni in the January vote.

In the run-up to the election, the prominent performer was
detained several times and sparked nationwide unrest that left
scores dead in violence with law enforcement.

According to the electoral commission results, which he
disputed, Bobi Wine secured nearly 35 percent of the vote.

Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as
Bobi Wine, said on Monday he was withdrawing his case over election
fraud from the country’s highest court, the media reported.

The singer-turned-politician ran against longtime incumbent
President Yoweri Museveni in the January election.

The country’s electoral commission declared Museveni won a sixth
term with over 58 percent of the vote, something Bobi Wine disputed
as fraudulent.

“We are withdrawing from the courts but we are not opting for
violence.

“We are withdrawing the case from Mr. Owiny Dollo’s court,” he
said, as reported by Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper.

Judge Dollo and two other judges refused to recuse themselves
from the case, despite calls from Bobi Wine to do so claiming they
had close ties to the president, the Monitor reported.

The ruling National Resistance Movement threatened to force Bobi
Wine to pay legal expenses incurred during the short-lived court
case, something his lawyer said he was willing to do, the newspaper
reported.

Bobi Wine drew international attention for his unlikely bid to
unseat Museveni in the January vote.

In the run-up to the election, the prominent performer was
detained several times and sparked nationwide unrest that left
scores dead in violence with law enforcement.

According to the electoral commission results, which he
disputed, Bobi Wine secured nearly 35 percent of the vote.