A spokesman for the Ugandan army denied that Wine’s bodyguard had been targeted.
“UPDF (Uganda People’s Defense Force) would like to clarify that the late Synthesis … was not hit by a military police vehicle as it is supposed to, but rather fell from a high-speed car. tried to jump to (sic), but fell off, “Brig. Gender. Spokeswoman Flavia Byekwaso wrote on Twitter late Sunday.
Wine said the incident happened while his team was taking local journalist Ashraf Kasirye to seek medical help after he was injured by police.
Police spokesman Fred Enanga told Reuters that wine supporters gathered in Masaka on Sunday, 125 kilometers southwest of the capital Kampala.
Wine wrote on Twitter that he attended a church service in the city.
Enanga said Wine supporters were “violent”, but did not provide further details on what they were doing.
“Teargas was used to quell the violence. Unfortunately, the journalists were caught during the process of dispersing the violent group,” Enanga said in an online statement, adding that the circumstances were being investigated.
Enanga told Reuters that Kasirye had suffered a serious injury above his left eye “allegedly from a container (with tear gas)”.
Wine also accused the military of taking over the election process and said his campaign team was gassed to death and shot with live bullets.
While authorities say restrictions are needed to stop the spread of Covid-19, members of the opposition and their supporters say they are an excuse to cut back on pre-election campaigns.
At the time, witnesses told CNN that police, military and civilian weapons fired large-caliber rifles in dense urban areas to quell protests. These accounts were backed up by several videos shared on social media during the chaos.
Additional reporting by Reuters.