Ugandan opposition leader goes abroad after two months in hiding

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Ugandan opposition leader goes abroad after two months in hiding

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

Bobi Wine says he traveled abroad for “critical engagements” and to help mobilize the international community against President Yoweri Museveni.

The pop star turned politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has reaffirmed his victory in the presidential election, saying it was rigged in favor of Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.

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

Wine’s statement, released in a five-minute video on X, called for targeted sanctions against Museveni.

While some in the government have denied that security forces are looking for Bobi Wine, Museveni’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who heads the country’s army, has said he is “wanted dead or alive” and has also threatened to castrate him. These messages have since been deleted from his X account.

He did not accuse Wine of committing specific offenses.

The BBC has asked the police for comment.

Wine, 44, claimed authorities had repeatedly raided his supporters’ homes looking for him, including as recently as Thursday, and had also set up roadblocks across the country. He said his house in the capital, Kampala, was still surrounded by the army, as it has been since election day.

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

He denied breaking the law, saying “running for president is not a crime.”

Following protests over the election results, Kainerugaba, widely seen as a potential successor to his father, said 30 “terrorists” from Wine’s party had been killed.