Kampala, Uganda (AP) – Opposition figure Bobi Wine said Uganda’s political climate will “get worse and worse” early next year before the presidential poll, citing threats to itself and other activists mobilize long-term threats to the president.
Wine, a singer-turned-lawyer maker whose real name is Kyagulanyi ssentamu, said the threat he faced as a major rival to President Yoweri Museveni is “not clearly seen.”
Fear of the safety of wine has increased in recent months, due to regular attacks by Museveni’s son and presumed heir, Army Chief Muhoozi Kaiinerugaba. In January, Kainerugaba wrote that he would “cut off” the wine’s head if the president allowed it, and he made widespread criticism in May for saying he was holding the wine’s missing bodyguard in my basement. The bodyguard later showed in court, which was an obvious victim of torture.
“This is constantly reminding that the threat is real, because it’s not an ordinary person,” Wine said. “This man is not only the son of the person in charge of the country, but also the person in charge of all the organs of violence. He leads the army, the police, the prison, the prison, you know. He is above the law, and so is his behavior.”
Wine, 43, spoke with the Associated Press during an exclusive interview with his National Unified Platform Party in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, a location briefly occupied by security forces during last month’s raid.
Museveni, 80, who has ruled Uganda since 1986, dismissed wine as an agent of foreign interests and even questioned his patriotism. But the alleged wine has a large following in the working-class population in urban areas, and his party has the most seats in any opposition party in parliament.
In the 2021 election, wine received 35% of the vote, while Museveni won his worst score with 58%, establishing wine as the president’s most effective challenger in decades. Wine says his victory was stolen through extensive voting stuffing and other malfeasance. The election authorities objected to the allegations.
The wine party claims dozens of followers have been sentenced to jail or disappear since 2021. For wine, the purpose of the attack was to “make the nerves of fear that all those who work with me and all those who represent me.”
Wine and Museveni will face each other again in a presidential poll scheduled for January 2026.
Museveni has been running in Kampala in recent days as he tries to strengthen opportunities among people who may support wine, while urban residents often have no reliable sources of income and hope that changing the government will benefit them.
Wine often describes itself as a “slum president” citing his early days in a poor neighborhood in Kampala. He has maintained a strong interest in the East African country since the early 2000s, when he became famous as a singer and his dancehall music attracted audiences. The wine’s work later became critical of the government, earning a reputation as a prominent counter-trend person when his musical companions were sometimes considered to support the government.
His election to the parliamentary seat in 2017 marks his official entry into national politics.
Wine told the Associated Press that he is mobilizing his supporters to appear in what he calls a “protest vote” to oppose everything he believes the government is wrong. But his attempts to hold rally nationwide are often frustrated by security forces citing the need to protect public order.
Army chief Kainerugaba recently said the government provided guards will protect all presidential candidates, warning wine and others against making private security arrangements. The presidential ambitions expressed by Kaierugaba have exacerbated fears of family rule over a country that has not seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1962.
“It talks about state captives. It says it’s impunity.
He said his resistance will only increase in the face of pressure.
“Our determination has become stronger,” he said.
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