Two months after another disputed presidential election victory in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni remains unsettled by pressure from opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.
The pop star-turned-politician known as Bobi Wine has since moved from the streets of Kampala to self-imposed exile in the United States. But back home, the regime continues its crackdown on his allies and supporters. In the US, Bobi Wine is on a mission to call on world leaders to sanction Museveni, 81, who this year clocks 40 years in power.
Addressing a public lecture at George Washington University on Thursday last week, he spoke about the systematic repression in Ugandan politics. Bobi Wine called for the international community to stop legitimising Museveni and urged development partners to terminate cooperation. He also warned that if ignored, the “mode of dictatorship” seen in Uganda could be exported to other countries in the region. The 44-year-old is a relatively popular young politician in Uganda and parts of Africa. Hailing from the slums of Kamwokya in Kampala, in 2017, he transitioned from entertainment to activism, winning a by-election for the Kyadondo County East constituency.
His win was a seismic shift, showing his ability to mobilise voters outside established party structures. The 2021 presidential bid, under the National Unity Platform, dubbed “People Power”, gained him international attention.
Wearing his signature red beret—later banned by the government—he challenged Museveni, promising to overhaul a system he described as a “kleptocracy”. Today, he continues on that road. But challenging the god of Ugandan politics comes at a huge cost.
In the biggest effort of his political career to date, he lost to Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement, who won a seventh term with 71.65% of the vote, while he came second with 24.72% in a disputed election in January.
Museveni, to his inner circle and supporters, mostly in rural areas, is still the indispensable “Mzee” [respected elder] – the guarantor of stability who brought order out of the chaos of the 1980s. Sadly, for Bobi Wine, Museveni is not giving in. The air in Kampala doesn’t just carry the scent of daily life but also the weight of his feared name.
For Bobi Wine, who dared challenge him, life has been a nightmare that led to his fleeing to the US. The great escape Talking to the Mail & Guardian from the US, Bobi Wine said he was not running away for good but “to live to fight another day” because had he stayed, he could have been killed.
For nearly 60 days following the disputed 15 January 2026 presidential election, Bobi Wine was Uganda’s most wanted man.
Despite his Magere residence being under a heavy military siege, involving drones and counter-terrorism units, Bobi Wine somehow slipped through the net on the very night Museveni was declared the winner of a seventh term.
“The day after the elections, I was raided but I was able to escape from my house. On another raid a few days later, my house was run over, my wife severely beaten and my family members tortured.
“My wife was later hospitalised and was facilitated to escape from the hospital. Then she also had to escape Uganda with our children,” he said, declining to reveal their whereabouts.
But Bobi Wine remained in the country, relying on a network of “boda boda” (motorcycle taxi) riders and local supporters who provided food and shelter. At the same time, security forces raided the homes of his associates. Help from Museveni’s enforcers He said that some of the people who helped him escape to the US were members of the military and police, who were unhappy with Museveni.
“There are many oppressed men and women in uniform and these are the people who helped me to escape. That’s why, to me, the issue is about the Ugandan people versus their oppressors,” he said.
Bobi Wine’s escape caused significant internal friction within the Ugandan government.
The police disciplinary unit at the directorate of counter terrorism arrested nine of the 16 counter-terrorism guards assigned to him, charging them with “neglect of duty”.
Because of the assisted escape from the country, Bobi Wine evaded a confrontation with the military, led by Museveni’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Muhoozi, as he is called, has been employing bullying tactics on the social media platform X, where he called Bobi Wine “KaBobi”, a somewhat belittling way of referring to him.
One thing Muhoozi openly declared was that he would “behead” Bobi Wine or ‘‘castrate” his associates when he got hold of them. While this has scared Bobi Wine into exile, he said it has not stopped his political ambitions.
“My fight is in Uganda. I am aware that no one but us, the youth, will save us from the oppressors,” he said. Voice of the youth maimed If the Ugandan youths do not push for change now, it will be even harder in the future, he said. “We cannot wait for anyone to come save us. It’s our present and future. Let’s deal with it ourselves.” Ahead of the January elections, the youth vowed to vote against “geriatric autocracy” in favour of youthful, vibrant leadership that understands their challenges. Hence, in Kampala, where Bobi Wine first became a celebrity as a musician with hits such as Ghetto President , Museveni faced resistance.
According to World Bank figures, Kampala has the highest concentration of youths, aged 18–30 countrywide, with 32.7% of the city’s population falling within this bracket. As part of a national trend, 73.2% of Ugandans are under 30 and the country has one of the youngest populations in the world.
“We are the majority and are supposed to be the most productive for our country but that is not the case,” Bobi Wine said.
A largely unskilled youthful population faces limited job opportunities, with many citizens feeling the pinch of rising food and fuel prices. While Bobi Wine is the face of youthful resistance, there are other youthful Ugandans who have felt the wrath of the regime.
While he was lucky to escape, he talks about others who didn’t make it out. Like Arnold Mukose, a journalist with the Alternative Digitalk Media , who was abducted last week.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), his is a case of “forced disappearance”.
CPJ Africa director Angela Quintal said: “Ugandan authorities must urgently reveal the journalist’s whereabouts and ensure that journalists can work without fear of being arrested or disappearing.”
Then there’s Natabi Fauzia, the wife of Bobi Wine’s assistant, Sheriff Najja. According to Bobi Wine, she was abducted on 12 March at the family residence when she failed to account for her husband and Bobi Wine’s whereabouts. Bobi Wine added that there were more than 20 of his associates who had been killed by the regime since January. Museveni for life? For four decades, Museveni has not just occupied the presidency; he has woven himself into the very fabric of Uganda’s existence. To some, he is the “Sower”, the father of the nation or “Mzee”, a respected elder.
To others, he is the immovable object against which all political opposition eventually breaks down.
The “old man with a hat”, as some call him, rose to power in 1986 after Milton Obote had become unpopular and soldiers in his own army staged a coup, led by Tito Okello Lutwa.
Okello took power but his government was weak and divided. Then, Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi, in a bid to prevent a total military takeover by Museveni, brought all stakeholders in the Ugandan crisis to sign the Nairobi peace agreement in December 1985.
A month later, Museveni broke the deal and his National Resistance Army captured key military installations and advanced on Kampala. When addressing the country, Museveni regularly reminds the nation that he brought fundamental change in 1986, as the one who stabilised a country once synonymous with the shadows of Idi Amin and Obote.
But he carefully avoids what was then his tagline, ‘‘The problem in Africa is leaders who overstay.” Instead, now he argues: “Some people think that being in power for a long time is a bad thing but the more you stay, the more you learn. I am now an expert in governance.”
Bobi Wine was four years old when Museveni came to power and he wonders why Museveni broke his covenant with the people.
“He sounded like a reformist. He told the people that the problem Africa had was leaders who overstayed their welcome in power. But guess what? 40 years later, he is still in power, unwanted just like the leaders he complained about. If I were to be honest, Idi Amin was 10 times better than Museveni,” Bobi Wine said.
Bobi Wine is the poster boy of African opposition politics, often serving as a symbol of young, pop-culture-driven resistance to long-standing authoritarian regimes.