Police fired tear gas on Saturday morning in a dramatic attempt to disperse hundreds of people who were trying to welcome National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine in Lira City in northern Uganda.
The former presidential candidate arrived in Lira on Friday night, hours after he was blocked from appearing on a local radio station in Mbale District in eastern Uganda. He spent a night at Gracious Palace Hotel before he could accomplish his mission.

Part of the musician-turned-opposition activist’s mission in Lira was to hold a press briefing followed by meeting NUP supporters from across the Lango Sub-region and then appear on a radio talk show. 
Immediately after Mr Kyagulanyi left Gracious Palace Hotel and headed to Radio Wa via Obote Avenue, hundreds of people closed their businesses and joined the crowd that started building up at the hotel.
As they arrived at Lira main market, his supporters started chanting, “Bobi Wine, our man, Bobi Wine, our man; our man, our president.”       
Moments later, heavily armed police officers arrived and attempted to block his convoy near All Nations Gospel Church.However, the security operatives seemed overwhelmed by the crowd before they called for reinforcement that came through when the crowd was approaching St Kizito Nursery & Primary School. 
Police armed with guns and teargas jumped off the white police pick-up van, blocked off the Post-Office Road and then started firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. 
Their aim was allegedly to block Bobi Wine and his team from reaching the radio station where he had planned to hold a press briefing and a radio talk show.
White clouds of choking smoke could be seen blowing over people’s heads while many coughed and bent over as they ran through the smoke.Mr Lawrence Egole, Lira Resident City Commissioner, said that Bobi Wine was not invited for the wedding of Brig Bosco Omure which was taking place in Lira City on Saturday.
 
“He stealthily joined the convoy of motorcades led by a military brass band which was accompanying the couple to Uganda Martyrs Cathedral where the wedding took place,” Mr Egole told this reporter in a telephone interview.
 
“Even if he was invited, there was no need for him to move with his rowdy crowd and to hold a procession. So, it was totally unacceptable and we could not allow him to join a motorcade with very high profile senior army officers. So, we had to cut him off,” Mr Egole, who is also the head of security in the city, added.
 
Brig Omure was tying a knot with his wife Roslyn in an army ceremonial wedding attended by senior army officers.
 
Mr Egole said his security team later forced Bobi Wine out of Lira City because he was a source of insecurity and wanted to cause an embarrassment to the couple and the senior army officers attending the wedding.
 “He is already gone,” he said. “He should be now approaching Loro in Oyam District. For us we have to ensure that a person like Bobi Wine or any person who is a public figure when they are exiting town, we make sure that they safely move out and that is what we did for Bobi Wine,” Mr Egole said.However, this reporter learnt that Bobi Wine was not interested in the wedding. Instead was scheduled to have a talk- show on the Catholic owned Radio Wa FM station on Saturday at 10am. The programme was allegedly cancelled by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) for lack of clearance by the security agency in Lira City.
 
Radio Wa managing director, Mr Charles Dickens Elem, told Daily Monitor in an interview that he was earlier summoned by UCC and directed to cancel Bobi Wine’s radio programme.
 “I returned from Kampala last night. UCC directed me to cancel Bobi Wine’s radio talk-show on grounds that he was not cleared by security to talk on the radio. He had booked airtime for a talk-show on Saturday morning at 10am. Bobi Wine had paid Shs500, 000 for a one-hour talk-show yet the normal rate is Shs1 million.  Mr Elem said his motive was questionable because he paid less money.
Hours later, Mr Kyagulanyi said the radio programme was cancelled on the orders of the RDC and DPC. 
“The proprietors of the station were instructed not to host us! We decided to proceed and engage with the station manager, but the police and military blocked us amidst heavy teargas and bullets. The great people of Lira turned out in large numbers to receive us and show strong disapproval of the regime's continuous witch-hunt. Afwoyo matek!” he said.He added “Regarding our meeting with the mobilisation teams, our coordinators submitted the letter of notification to the DPC but the DPC sent them to the RPC who sent them to the IGP! You can imagine the level of fear the illegal regime has for the PEOPLE.”
On Friday, Mr Kyagulanyi and his colleagues were blocked from appearing on a talk show on Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) FM in Mbale City.