Bombay Durpun - Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine warns of protests if polls rigged

More than 20 million people are registered to vote in the east African country on Thursday, with 81-year-old Museveni widely expected to continue his four-decade rule thanks to his near-total control of the state and security apparatus.

His main opponent is singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, 43 -- real name Robert Kyagulanyi -- who is taking a second run at the presidency after his 2021 campaign was met with violent repression and alleged rigging.

"If General Museveni rigs the election, we shall call for protests," Wine told AFP at his home in the capital Kampala.

"We've told the people not to wait for our instruction," he added.

The United Nations and Amnesty International are among the watchdogs accusing Uganda's government of repression ahead of the polls, including hundreds of arrests of Wine's supporters.

There has been increasing political unrest across east Africa as the region's youthful population protests the erosion of democracy and lack of jobs in Kenya, Tanzania and beyond.

Wine acknowledged that protests were likely to provoke more crackdown.

"I know that General Museveni's government responds to everything with violence... But I also know that even violent regimes get thrown out by protests," he told AFP.

"We did not promise comfort. We did not promise that they will not unleash violence upon us. But we have insisted that our people must be non-violent because we know non-violence defeats violence."

Asked if he would welcome a direct intervention by the US, such as seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Wine said: "Yeah. I would."

"I believe that any assistance that comes our way is helpful. However, that assistance should not be to take over our country," he said.

"I firmly believe that the responsibility to liberate our country, to govern our country, and to move it forward, lies entirely with the people of Uganda."

- 'Bobi is our Jesus' -

Rapturous crowds greeted Wine's convoy as it passed through Kampala to one of his final rallies, people lining the streets, hoisting children onto shoulders, and screaming their support.

"Bobi is our Jesus Christ," two men on a motorbike shouted as they drove alongside his car.

Thousands gathered off Gadafi road in central Kampala. The crowd, mostly young men packed incredibly tightly, boisterously waited for his speech despite a sudden torrential rainfall.

"We need a new Uganda which functions with no corruption, freedom and employment for everyone," supporter Ssalongo Adam Mwanje told AFP.

"I want to vote for Bobi Wine so he can bring a new Uganda," said Marsha Madinah.

A large police and security presence deterred crowds from staying as the sun went down, but there was no violence as people dispersed.

"Museveni is not one of you, I am you and you are me," Wine said as he wrapped up.

B.Chakrabarti--BD