Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine announces withdrawal of election challenge

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said on Monday he was withdrawing a court case challenging presidential election results that handed victory to incumbent Yoweri Museveni, alleging bias by Supreme Court justices hearing the case.

"We have decided to withdraw from their court," Bobi Wine told a news conference in the capital Kampala.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has rejected the results of the January election and said he believed victory was stolen from him. A popstar and lawmaker, Wine, 39, was asking the court to overturn the results on several grounds including widespread use of violence.

Museveni, a former guerrilla leader who has led the East African country since 1986, was declared winner of the Jan. 14 election with 59% of the vote, while Wine was given 35%.

"The courts are not independent, it is clear these people (judges) are working for Mr. Museveni," Wine told reporters.

Solomon Muyita, a judiciary spokesman, told Reuters they will only respond to Wine's accusations and decision to withdraw the case when he has formally quit the case through his lawyers.

"Right now what he has done is, he has only made a political statement, as far as the records of the Supreme Court are (concerned) the case is still there," he said.

- REUTERS