Uganda Police Force says phone tapping allegations by singer and MP Bobi Wine are a ruse to gain political mileage.

Last week, Bobi Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, told a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter he couldn’t share sensitive stuff because government would listen to their conversation.

And the WSJ claimed Huawei was aiding government to spy on opposition politicians.

Huawei, the Chinese and Ugandan governments have dismissed the claims by Bobi Wine and WSJ as fake news.

They also claimed the report was a weapon in the China-US trade war.

Huawei is involved in a CCTV camera project where cameras are being installed on city streets to track criminals.

A number of cameras installed in the Kampala Metropolitan policing area.

In a statement by spokesperson Fred Enanga, Uganda Police has accused Bobi Wine of using phone hacking claims as part of a smear campaign against the force.

Enanga added that Bobi Wine was also using the allegations to seek political capital.

“We strongly believe the Article by the WSJ… is being used to sabotage and smear the UPF, and give political mileage to a particular member of the opposition and other interests,” said Enanga.

“We wonder why they would single out one leader, yet there are many other players in the political arena of Uganda including other politicians, activists…”

An MP representing Kyadondo East since 2017, Bobi Wine has since declared he would be challenging president Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 election.

Museveni has been in power since 1986, four years after Bobi Wine was born.

Police now wants the WSJ “to release information that the anti-crime infrastructure we are installing has been secretly used to extract personal information from private cell phones”.

“We have seen the same accusations fronted against many other countries and institutions, using the Huawei intelligent monitoring systems,” said Enanga.

“We believe its pure sabotage and a trade war strategy against Huawei and its clients.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………