Uganda’s main opposition leader has told The Observer that he has gone into hiding, fearing for his life after security forces stormed his home following the country’s election last week.
Bobi Wine spoke from a secret location inside Uganda shortly after military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of president Yoweri Museveni, threatened to find him and kill him. “We had initially got information that they were coming to harm me, that they were going to break into my house and then beat me and maybe kill me or disable me,” said Wine. He added that he is sheltering “within the community”.
Wine received 25% of the vote in Thursday’s election compared with 72% recorded for Museveni, who secured a seventh term aged 81. The run-up was marked by a severe crackdown, with police arresting Wine’s supporters and breaking up his rallies with tear gas. The internet was shut down days before voters headed to the polls, and 22 people were killed in unrest that broke out after ballots were cast.
Wine said security forces surrounded his house shortly after he voted and shut off the electricity. His home was also besieged after the last election in 2021.
“They closed my gate, they parked military trucks around my compound and they brought a jammer and blacked out everything,” he said. “The internet was already off but I could not make calls.”
On Friday, armed men entered the compound by scaling the garden fence, said Wine. In the confusion, Wine managed to slip away by climbing the wall in the other direction and then hailing a motorbike taxi. “We got information from insiders [that there were risks to Wine’s life],” he said. “I did not believe it. But when I saw them jumping into the compound and heading to the house, I knew the warnings were real and therefore I acted swiftly.”
He added: “It was a very dangerous scenario because there were lots of military and police and goons in plain clothes around, and they were armed with guns.”
Bobi Wine arrives with his wife to cast their votes in Kampala on 15 January
Wine dismissed the outcome of the election, alleging it had been rigged and noting the harassment that preceded it. “All that was read as results was fake, was unreal and is not representative of the voice of the people,” he said.
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Observers from the African Union said they saw “no evidence of ballot stuffing” but criticised “reports of intimidation, arrest and abductions” targeting the opposition and civil society. These “instilled fear and eroded public trust in the electoral process”, said former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, who led the observation mission.
Ugandan police have denied raiding Wine’s home but blocked journalists from approaching it.
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In his victory speech on Sunday, Museveni claimed Wine’s supporters had planned attacks on polling stations in areas where they were losing and denounced them as “terrorists”. “They are working with some foreigners and some homosexual groups,” he claimed.
On Monday his son, Kainerugaba, gave Wine 48 hours to hand himself in. “If he doesn't we will treat him as an outlaw/rebel and handle him accordingly,” he wrote on X.
Wine called on Ugandans to protest the results but said he did not know what he planned to do next. “I just want to be alive, and I want to call upon the international community to come into this matter because many of them are just watching as all these horrific things are going on, and I’m going to continue calling upon the people of Uganda to fight back,” he said. “I might not manage to free myself as an individual but I believe if we all keep doing what we can do, we’ll get through.”
Photographs by Michel Lunanga/Getty Images, Brian Inganga/AP