A new video posted from an undisclosed location has once again thrust Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine into the spotlight. Filmed in a family graveyard in central Uganda, the video shows him calmly walking among the tombs while mocking the military leadership he says has been unable to track him down, and reflecting on what he describes as the injustice surrounding his situation.
The 43-year-old musician turned politician has been out of sight for more than a week, avoiding what he claims is an active military pursuit. His disappearance has visibly angered Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the army chief and son of President Yoweri Museveni, turning the standoff into a very public war of words.
Wine went into hiding shortly after Uganda’s contested presidential election on January 15. The poll was overshadowed by an internet blackout and technical failures involving biometric voter identification kits that were meant to curb ballot manipulation.
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Official results declared Museveni the winner with 71.6% of the vote, extending his rule to a seventh term. Wine, whose birth name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has rejected the outcome and accused the state of engineering the process to retain power.
Since the announcement, he has urged his supporters to expose what he calls the government’s weaknesses through lawful means, even as soldiers flooded streets and polling areas during and after voting day.
According to Wine, troops stormed his home the day after the election, but he was already gone. He has said he feared for his life after weeks of campaigning under heavy security, often appearing at rallies wearing a helmet and flak jacket.
In his latest message, Wine described his continued freedom as evidence that the government’s grip is not as firm as it claims.
“The whole army is looking for one person. It’s now coming to 10 days but they have failed to find me,” Wine said in a video posted on social media on Monday. “That means they are not as strong as they tell you.”
He added that this should embolden ordinary citizens to act within the law. “That also means that you, as a Ugandan, you can do whatever is possible without breaking the law. Yes, they call us outlaws, but we are not law breakers.”
The man leading the hunt is Kainerugaba, widely seen as Museveni’s likely successor. He has fired back at Wine online, branding him a coward, a “baboon” and a “terrorist” in a series of posts that often disappear shortly after they are published.
Kainerugaba has claimed that Wine and senior figures in his National Unity Platform party are wanted for criminal offenses, though he has not outlined any specific charges. This assertion has been contradicted by police and government spokesman Chris Baryomunsi, both of whom have said Wine is not wanted and can safely return home.
Wine, however, insists he remains at risk. In one recent update, he said he had gone back to his ancestral home simply “to get some love.”
“Another day of hiding. Another day of injustice,” he said. “As I have always said, that in a country under family rule the ruling family is always above the law.”
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The back and forth between Wine and the army chief has deepened anxiety in the aftermath of the election, with fears that any direct move against the opposition leader could spark unrest.
Wine was the most prominent of seven challengers who ran against Museveni and enjoys strong backing among young, urban Ugandans. Many of his supporters are unemployed or frustrated by corruption and limited economic prospects, and they are eager for change after nearly four decades under the same president.
Tensions escalated further after a January 23 raid on the couple’s home near Kampala. Wine’s wife, Barbara Kyagulanyi, said soldiers assaulted her during the operation, leaving her hospitalized with anxiety and bruises.
Speaking to reporters from her hospital bed, Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Barbie, said she refused to cooperate with dozens of uniformed men who demanded to know her husband’s whereabouts.
She recounted how masked men forced their way into the house, smashing doors and windows before grabbing her by her pajamas and lifting her off the ground. One of the intruders slammed her head against a pillar while demanding access to a phone, she said.
Kainerugaba has acknowledged responsibility for the raid but denied that she was harmed.
“My soldiers did not beat Barbie,” he wrote on X. “We are looking for her cowardly husband not her.”
Museveni, now 81 and a long-time ally of the United States, has accused the opposition of attempting to incite violence during the election period.
His new term brings him closer to five decades in power. According to AP’s report, supporters credit him with maintaining relative stability in Uganda, which has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands fleeing conflict elsewhere in the region. Critics, however, say the current standoff over Bobi Wine stresses the growing strain on Uganda’s political system.
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