Keypoints:
- Bobi Wine says he is in hiding after a security raid on his home
- Kizza Besigye’s wife warns the jailed opposition leader is gravely ill
- Rights groups report hundreds arrested following Museveni’s re-election
UGANDA’S political tensions have intensified sharply following President Yoweri Museveni’s re-election, with opposition leader Bobi Wine revealing he is in hiding and fears growing for the life of jailed veteran politician Kizza Besigye.
Wine told AFP on Wednesday that he had been forced to flee his home after security forces carried out a raid days after the January 15 presidential election, which returned Museveni to office for a seventh term.
At the same time, Besigye’s wife said her husband — Museveni’s most enduring political rival — was gravely ill in prison and could die without urgent medical treatment.
The twin developments highlight deepening concern over Uganda’s political direction after an election widely criticised by observers and rights groups. With mass arrests reported, threats issued by senior military figures and opposition leaders either detained or in hiding, critics warn the country is entering one of its most repressive periods in decades.
Museveni extends four-decade rule
According to Uganda’s electoral commission, Museveni secured 71.65 percent of the vote, compared with 24.72 percent for Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.
The 81-year-old leader has ruled Uganda since 1986, maintaining firm control over the security services, electoral institutions and judiciary. He has consistently rejected accusations of authoritarianism, insisting elections under his leadership are free and fair.
However, domestic observers, international monitors and civil society organisations raised serious concerns about the January polls. They cited the deployment of troops across major cities, intimidation of opposition supporters and a nationwide internet shutdown that lasted several days.
The United Nations said ahead of the vote that the election was taking place in a climate of ‘widespread repression and intimidation’.
‘I am on the move’
Wine, a 43-year-old former reggae star turned politician, said the situation had forced him into constant movement.
‘I’m upbeat, I’m good. I’m in hiding now,’ he told AFP by phone. ‘My wife and family have been under house arrest for a week.’
He said security personnel raided his residence shortly after the election, prompting him to flee for his safety.
‘I’ve literally been on the move, but luckily I’m being housed and protected by the common people — the ghetto people,’ he said.
Wine previously alleged he was detained and tortured during the 2021 elections, claims that drew international condemnation and which the government denied.
Military threats escalate tensions
The post-election atmosphere worsened further this week after Uganda’s army chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba — Museveni’s son — issued a threat against the opposition leader.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Kainerugaba said he would hunt down and kill Wine, describing opposition figures as ‘terrorists’. The remarks sparked outrage among human rights groups and opposition supporters.
‘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.’
Kainerugaba, 51, has repeatedly courted controversy with inflammatory social media posts and has made no secret of his ambition to one day succeed his father. The government has previously said his online comments should not always be taken as official policy.
Wine accused the military of usurping civilian authority.
‘It is criminal for the military to take over the elections, to murder people and to threaten the lives of political leaders,’ he said.
Besigye ‘extremely weak’ in detention
While Wine remains in hiding, attention has also turned to the fate of Kizza Besigye, Museveni’s former personal doctor and political challenger for more than 25 years.
Besigye was abducted in November 2024 while travelling in Kenya and later resurfaced in Uganda, where he was charged with plotting to overthrow the government. He has been denied bail several times and remains in custody.
On Tuesday, his wife Winnie Byanyima — executive director of the United Nations agency UNAIDS — warned that her husband’s life was in danger.
‘There is a plot to kill him,’ she said in comments to Ugandan media before posting on X that Museveni ‘wants Besigye to die in prison’.
She said she had been allowed to visit him and found him in a dire condition.
‘He was huddled in a dirty plastic chair,’ she wrote. ‘He is extremely weak.’
Byanyima called for Besigye to be transferred immediately to a civilian hospital so he could be treated by his personal doctor.
Court appearance missed
Besigye was due to appear before a Ugandan court on Wednesday, but his lawyer Erias Lukwago told AFP that his client was too ill to attend.
Human rights organisations and opposition figures say Besigye’s abduction and prosecution are directly linked to the election and aimed at silencing dissent.
The government has denied mistreating him, insisting that due legal process is being followed.
Hundreds detained nationwide
According to Lukwago and opposition groups, more than 600 people have been arrested since Museveni’s victory was declared.
Many were detained for protesting the election results or organising demonstrations in Kampala and other urban centres. Lawyers say dozens remain in custody without charge.
Rights groups warn that the arrests, combined with threats from military leaders and the targeting of opposition figures, signal a sweeping post-election crackdown.
‘Do not abandon us’
Asked about the future of his National Unity Platform party, Wine acknowledged the uncertainty facing the opposition.
‘In a dictatorship, you don’t draw a strategy — you respond to the kind of oppression,’ he said.
Despite the dangers, he appealed for international attention.
‘Uganda is fighting for our democracy,’ Wine added. ‘We call upon the world to join us — not to leave us alone, not to abandon us.’
