Bobi Wine flees to exile ‘over personal safety’

2026-03-16 - 09:08

Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine The president of the National Unity Platform, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has announced that he has fled into exile, citing concerns over his personal safety after spending more than two months in hiding in Uganda. In a message posted on his X account, Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine said security forces had been searching for him but failed to find him because members of the public had shielded him. “It’s laughable that Uganda’s security apparatus has poured billions of taxpayer shillings into hunting me and still come up empty, because people shielded me. They’ve erected roadblocks everywhere, searching vehicles and pulling over boda-bodas to force passengers to remove helmets causing traffic, all on Museveni’s son’s orders,” Kyagulanyi said. He also alleged that security operatives had been raiding homes while looking for him. “They raid homes looking for me. Two days ago, they stormed my assistant Sharif Najja’s house; when they didn’t find either of us, they seized his wife, and she remains missing,” Kyagulanyi added. Kyagulanyi further claimed that nine police officers who had been assigned to him during the presidential campaign were arrested after they refused to spy on him. “They were arrested and detained, and now they’ve been dismissed from the police in disgrace, apparently because they wouldn’t help spy on me or prevent me from leaving my house, even though their assignment officially ended on January 15th,” he stated. Kyagulanyi finished second in the 2026 presidential election with 2,741,238 votes (24.75 per cent) against 7,946,772 votes (71.65 per cent) for the incumbent president, Yoweri Museveni. However, the NUP leader has continued to claim that the election was rigged and said the government has since targeted him. He alleged that security forces raided his home shortly after the election. “They raided my home on January 16th, and I managed to escape. A few days later, they returned, assaulted my wife and other family members, vandalized the house, stole valuables, and our home is still occupied and surrounded. That’s why I’ve been hiding and why I’m leaving the country for now,” Kyagulanyi said. Kyagulanyi said his departure should not be interpreted as surrender but rather as part of a broader strategy to push for political change. He said he plans to engage the international community and push for sanctions against the government of President Museveni and its alleged supporters. According to him, being abroad will allow him and opposition supporters in the diaspora to organise and strategise further political action. “In my absence, my deputy president, Dr Lina Zedriga, who was just released from prison, will act as president. Once I finish my work on the international stage, I’ll return to my country and let the regime do what it wants in full view; after all, I committed no crime by running for president,” Kyagulanyi said. His announcement came a day after documents from a case first filed at Gulu Police Station on March 16, 2026, surfaced on social media. The documents accuse him of making false statements contrary to Section 25(9) of the Penal Code Act. The leaked documents also led to the remand on Friday of Gloria Grace Laker, an intern at the Gulu High court for allegedly taking a picture of the charges the state is plotting against Kyagulanyi and sharing it online.