Old UK video falsely linked to Ugandan opposition leader’s clash with police in September 2024
Mary KULUNDU / AFP Kenya
·4-min read
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine, a leading critic of authoritarian President Yoweri Museveni, was injured during clashes with security forces in early September. According to his party, Wine was shot in the leg but police said he stumbled and hurt himself while getting into his car. Days later, posts started sharing videos claiming to show an American lawmaker condemning the incident "in parliament". Although the US has expressed concern over the recent events, the footage is from 2018 and features UK MP Paul Williams criticising Wine’s reported torture.
On September 12, 2024, a video was shared on X showing people debating inside a building with green upholstered benches.
“Bobi Wine attempted assassination discussed in US Parliament,” reads the post, which has garnered nearly 1,000 likes and was published by an account called “The Kampala Journal”.
A screenshot of the false post, taken on September 26, 2024
The clip was created on TikTok with a caption commending the “American parliament” for discussing Wine's recent altercation with police.
In the clip, a man in a suit introduces himself as “Dr Paul Williams” and talks about Wine and “other Ugandan MPs arrested, detained in military custody, beaten and tortured”.
The same claim was repeated in another post on X, Facebook and TikTok.
“Wine shot”
On September 3, 2024, Wine clashed with police officers in Bulindo, a town located some 20 kilometres north of the capital Kampala (archived here).
The opposition leader, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, suffered a leg wound during the chaotic incident. His political party initially reported he was shot, an accusation the police denied.
A day after the incident, Wine’s lawyer told AFP that his client “is out of danger but according to the doctors he will undergo ... surgery to remove suspected fragments from a tear gas canister, which hit him” (archived here).
While the 42-year-old former pop star was hurt in the fray, posts sharing a video claiming to show the “US parliament” discussing “Wine’s shooting” are false.
Unrelated video
The first clue raising doubts is the speakers’ accents, which sound distinctly British rather than American.
Secondly, the national legislature in America is referred to as the US Congress, not parliament, and it is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Both resemble amphitheatres, with tiered seating shaped like a semi-circle.
PoolGetty Images North America
Using the InVID We-Verify tool, we conducted a reverse image search on multiple keyframes from the footage and found similar images of the green benches seen in the video.
The chairs are specific to the House of Commons, which together with the House of Lords makes up Britain's parliament.
AFP
Unlike the seating arrangement in the US Congress, politicians in the UK sit facing each other.
A keyword search found that “Dr Paul Williams”, the man who speaks in the video, was a former member of the House of Commons. He left on November 9, 2019 (archived here).
Another keyword search located the same video of Williams speaking in the House of Commons on Facebook and YouTube (archived here and here).
A screenshot of the Facebook (left) and YouTube posts
The posts were published on September 6, 2018 – six years before Wine’s latest scuffle with the police.
By searching the UK parliament’s Hansard, we found the full question Williams asked in the Commons on September 6, 2018. His remarks about Wine are identical to those misrepresented in the false posts.
A screenshot of House of Commons Hansard, taken on September 27, 2024
Torture
In 2018, Wine was arrested and charged with treason after protesters stoned Museveni’s car during a by-election campaign (archived here).
His arrest sparked violent protests and international condemnation over allegations of torture. He later left Uganda for medical treatment in the US.
The popstar-turned-politician and his National Unity Platform (NUP) party have long been a thorn in Museveni’s side.
Wine, who challenged the veteran leader in the 2021 election, has been detained or put under house arrest numerous times and party rallies have been violently dispersed.
After the recent incident, the US State Department said it was concerned that the “democratic space continues to shrink” in Uganda.
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