Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)

Force in Play

In hiding as army occupies his home; lawyers petition Commonwealth for Uganda suspension over post-election threats and violations; banned by military chief from future elections; wife hospitalized after January assault

On January 17, Uganda's Electoral Commission declared Yoweri Museveni the winner of his seventh term with 71.65% of votes to Bobi Wine's 24.72%, in an election the joint African Union-COMESA-IGAD observer mission said was conducted within a polarized political context. After security forces raided his home on January 16 in what his party called an abduction attempt, Wine escaped to an undisclosed location where he remained in hiding, rejecting the results as fraudulent and presenting video evidence of electoral commission officials ticking ballots for Museveni. On the night of January 23-24, dozens of armed men in military uniform raided Wine's home again, assaulting and strangling his wife Barbara Kyagulanyi, who was hospitalized at Nsambya Hospital in Kampala for bruises and anxiety; she has since spoken publicly from her hospital bed about the attack. Military chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba—Museveni's son and presumed successor—denied on January 26 that soldiers beat Kyagulanyi, confirmed the military manhunt, and banned Wine from future elections citing national security.

Updated Feb 5