UN Urged to Intervene as Threats Mount Against Ugandan Opposition Leader Bobi Wine

By : Mweru Mbugua 

Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, is seeking international protection after receiving what his lawyers describe as credible death threats following Uganda’s disputed general election

Bobi Wine, the presidential candidate of the National Unity Platform (NUP), went into hiding after the January 15 poll in which long-serving President Yoweri Museveni, 81, was declared the winner with 71.65 percent of the vote. Wine garnered 24.72 percent and rejected the outcome as “blatant theft”

The election was widely criticised by observers and human rights groups, who cited an internet shutdown that lasted several days and the violent repression of opposition supporters

Tensions escalated after President Museveni’s son and army chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, posted messages on X threatening to hunt down and kill Wine. The posts were later deleted, but Wine’s legal team says the danger remains acute

“In light of these reckless statements, we urgently call on the international community, including the United Nations, to demand immediate, verifiable guarantees of Mr. Wine’s safety and ensure he can return to his family without harm,” said Robert Amsterdam, one of Wine’s lawyers

Amsterdam stressed that Wine had committed no crime, saying his only “offence” was exposing what he described as the authoritarian nature of Museveni’s rule through peaceful political opposition

Kainerugaba has since claimed that security forces have killed dozens of people he labelled as “NUP terrorists” and arrested thousands of others, using derogatory language to refer to Wine and his supporters

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The European Union expressed concern over the situation, condemning pre- and post-election violence and threats directed at the opposition leader

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also weighed in, saying he was closely following developments in Uganda and was concerned by reports of arrests, detentions and violence involving opposition figures and their supporters

Bobi Wine, a former reggae musician turned politician, has emerged as the most prominent challenger to Museveni’s nearly four-decade rule, but his political rise has been marked by repeated arrests, intimidation and crackdowns on his party