Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine goes abroad after two months in hiding

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine says he has left the country after spending two months in hiding following January’s disputed election.

He says he has gone abroad for “critical engagements” and to help mobilise the international community against president Yoweri Museveni.

The pop star-turned-politician, whose real name is Robert Ssentamu, repeated his claim to have won the presidential election, saying it had been rigged in favour of Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.

Museveni (81) won the election with 72% of the vote and has accused the opposition of seeking to overturn the results through violence.

Wine’s statement, posted on a five-minute video on X, calls for targeted sanctions against Museveni. It was his first public appearance in weeks.

While some members of the government have denied that the security forces are looking for Wine, Museveni’s son, general Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is the head of the country’s military, says he is “wanted dead or alive” and also threatens to castrate him.

Those messages have since been deleted from his X account.

He does not accuse Wine of committing any specific offences.

The BBC has asked the police for comment.

Wine (44) alleges that the authorities had repeatedly raided the homes of his supporters looking for him, including as recently as Thursday, as well as setting up roadblocks around the country.

He says his house in the capital, Kampala, is still surrounded by the military, as it has been since election day.

“I thank all you fellow Ugandans who have concealed and protected me all the time while the regime was looking for me,” he says in the video.

He denies having broken the law, saying “running for president is not a crime”.

Following protests against the election results, Kainerugaba, widely seen as a potential successor to his father, said that 30 “terrorists” from Wine’s party had been killed. – BBC, additional reporting Richard Kagoe

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