Keypoints:
- Army chief says aide is held ‘in his basement’
- Bobi Wine’s party HQ raided before protest campaign
- International concern grows ahead of 2026 election
UGANDA’S main opposition leader, Bobi Wine, has accused the military of raiding his party’s headquarters just hours after the country’s top army general publicly admitted to abducting and torturing Wine’s bodyguard — a move that has intensified fears of a violent clampdown ahead of the January 2026 general election.
On Friday, Wine posted on social media: ‘Security forces have just raided and cordoned off our headquarters.’ The National Unity Platform (NUP) said its Kampala offices were targeted by heavily armed security forces to disrupt the launch of a campaign encouraging Ugandans to vote against President Yoweri Museveni’s long-standing regime.
The raid came on the heels of a disturbing series of social media posts by General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the Ugandan army and son of Museveni. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) late Thursday, Kainerugaba boasted that he had captured Wine’s bodyguard, Eddie Mutwe.
‘He is in my basement… You are next,’ he wrote, in response to Wine’s own claims that Mutwe had been abducted. The general also claimed to have beaten, shaved, and detained Mutwe, adding chillingly: ‘I still have to castrate him.’
Crackdown draws international alarm
Speaking to AFP, Wine condemned what he described as open acts of brutality by the Ugandan military. ‘It is a reminder to the world as to how law and order has broken down in Uganda,’ he said.
He added: ‘For Muhoozi to confirm the abduction and illegal detention of Eddie Mutwe and sharing his photos half-naked signals the level of impunity the rogue regime has reached.’
The Ugandan police told AFP they were unaware of any formal report on Mutwe’s case. However, Wine’s NUP insists Mutwe was ‘violently abducted’ by armed men wearing the uniform of the Special Forces Command, an elite military unit closely tied to the Museveni family.
Kainerugaba has a long history of incendiary social media behaviour. Earlier this year, he threatened to behead Wine, and in 2022 his online remarks nearly sparked a diplomatic row with Kenya, prompting an official apology from Museveni.
Democracy in peril
With Uganda heading towards its next general election in January, opposition groups say the state’s use of fear and force is escalating. Museveni, who has ruled since 1986, is seeking another term, despite growing domestic dissent and international concern.
The US-based Holocaust Memorial Museum recently warned of potential ‘mass atrocities’ in the run-up to the vote.
The NUP’s planned campaign, labelled a ‘protest vote’, aims to push back against electoral manipulation and military intimidation. But the raid on its headquarters and threats against its leaders have raised new alarms about the shrinking space for political dissent in Uganda.
‘This is not just about one party or one person,’ said an NUP spokesperson. ‘It’s about the future of democracy in Uganda.’
