Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine told AFP Wednesday he was on the run following last week’s election, while another, Kizza Besigye, risks dying from illness in jail, his wife said.
The east African country on January 15 re‒elected Yoweri Museveni for a seventh term as president — a result Wine denounced as “blatant theft”.
The 81‒year‒old president, in power since 1986, maintains tight control over the electoral and security systems.
According to the electoral commission, Museveni won 71.65 percent of the vote, compared with 24.72 percent for Wine — born Robert Kyagulanyi — the 43‒year‒old former ragga singer turned politician.
Observers and NGOs criticised the results, pointing to an internet shutdown lasting days and the repression of the opposition.
Death threat
Wine, who was detained and tortured during the 2021 elections, took part in this month’s polls but went into hiding after a security raid on his home.
“I’m upbeat, I’m good. I’m in hiding now, my family, my wife and family has been under house arrest for a week,” he told AFP by phone.
“I’ve literally been on the move, but luckily I’m being housed and protected by the common people, the ghetto people.”
Yoweri Museveni is accused of repressing the opposition. By – (AFP/File)
Museveni and his son, army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, have labelled opposition members “terrorists”.
On Tuesday, Kainerugaba, 51, who has made no secret of his desire to succeed his father, threatened in a post on X to hunt down and kill Wine.
“I’m not a criminal, I’m not a terrorist,” Wine said. “I am a presidential candidate and it is not a crime to run against his father.”
He added: “It is criminal for the military to take over the elections… to murder people, to threaten the lives of our political leaders.”
Besigye ill in jail
Another prominent opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, former personal doctor to Museveni and his political opponent for more than 25 years, was unable to take part in the vote.
Abducted in November 2024 during a trip to Kenya, Besigye later resurfaced in Uganda, where he has repeatedly been refused bail pending trial.
Kizza Besigye’s wife says he is gravely ill in jail. By Badru KATUMBA (AFP)
On Tuesday, his wife Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of the United Nations agency UNAIDS, told Ugandan media there was a “plot to kill” her ailing husband.
Museveni “wants Besigye to die in prison”, she said in a message on X on Wednesday, demanding he be transferred to a regular hospital to be treated by his personal doctor.
She said she had been allowed to visit her husband and found him “huddled in a dirty plastic chair” in an “extremely weak” state.
“His life is in danger.”
600 detained
Besigye was due to be heard by a Ugandan court on Wednesday but one of his lawyers, Erias Lukwago, told AFP the prisoner was unable to attend.
Human rights groups and the Ugandan opposition say Besigye’s abduction and prosecution for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government were linked to the latest election.
Bobi Wine took part in the January 15 elections but is now in hiding. By Rian COPE (AFP)
Lukwago said more than 600 people had been arrested following the polls for protesting at Museveni’s win.
Days before the vote, the UN said the election was unfolding in a climate of “widespread repression and intimidation”.
Asked about his future and that of his party, Bobi Wine acknowledged having no set plan.
“In a dictatorship, you don’t draw a strategy, but you respond to the kind of oppression,” he said.
“Uganda is fighting for our democracy. We call upon the world to join us, not to leave us alone, not to abandon us.”
