EXCLUSIVE: Ugandan Opposition Leader Bobi Wine Speaks to M&G from Exile in the US, Calls for Sanctions against Museveni

By Lenin Ndebele

Bobi Wine Robert Kyagulanyi 1

Robert Kyagulanyi, aka 'Bobi Wine', leader of the National Unity Platform.

Ugandan opposition leader Kyagulanyi Ssentamu said he fled to the United States to save his life but eventually he would return home to face President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

Speaking to the Mail & Guardian from Washington DC, Ssentamu, also known by his stage name Bobi Wine, said: “I had to save my life to be able to speak to the world and later, I will return to my country for the regime to do whatever they want to me in the full glare of the world. My fight is in Uganda.” 

Bobi Wine, under the National Unity Platform, was one of seven opposition candidates that challenged Museveni for the presidency on 15 January. Museveni won a seventh term with 71.65% of the vote, while Bobi Wine came second with 24.72% in a disputed election.

Bobi Wine said it was not an election but “a military operation” that resulted in his house arrest, while his wife and family members were tortured.

Major general Muhoozi Kainerugaba – Uganda’s military commander and son of the president – has used social media to issue direct, inflammatory threats against Bobi Wine, including threats to “behead” him or “castrate” his associates.

About his escape, he said he was assisted by some in the military and police who also felt oppressed under the Museveni establishment.

“There are many oppressed men and women in uniform and these are the people who helped me to escape,” he said. “That’s why, to me, the issue is about the Ugandan people versus their oppressor.”

Now in the US, Bobi Wine is calling on international pressure for sanctions against the Ugandan strongman.

The US has since criticised the Ugandan general elections as a “hollow exercise” marred by violence, intimidation and irregularities, failing to meet democratic standards.

US officials have condemned the suppression of opposition and called for accountability in the wake of President Museveni’s disputed seventh term, with some lawmakers calling for a review of security aid.

On why he decided to go to the US, instead of a country in Africa for safety, he said solidarity in the region had been wavering.

“Even those in solidarity with us have found safety in silence and complacency. It’s only the likes of former Botswana president Ian Khama who speak openly about what’s happening in Uganda. Otherwise, many African leaders prefer diplomacy to democracy,” he added.

In January, Khama said Museveni’s victory “followed a typical authoritarian playbook”.

While the late 1970s dictator Idi Amin is arguably the most eccentric to come out of Uganda, Wine said, compared to Museveni, he was not as bad.

“Museveni is 10 times worse than Amin!” he said.

Museveni has won disputed elections since 1996, when he first ran for president after ruling unelected for 10 years.