Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine announces second presidential bid

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine has announced his intention to run for president again, marking his second attempt to challenge the long-standing rule of President Yoweri Museveni.

The 43-year-old, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, also criticized Western governments for their failure to speak out against what he describes as growing human rights violations in Uganda.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Wine confirmed his plans to contest the presidency in the upcoming election set for January, saying, "Yeah, I’ve expressed my availability on behalf of my team."

His candidacy is positioned as more than just a political campaign; Wine views it as an opportunity to "undress and expose the regime" while galvanizing Ugandans to push for freedom.

Wine, who finished second in the 2021 presidential election, rejected the outcome of the vote, citing widespread electoral fraud, including ballot stuffing, falsification of results, and alleged acts of violence and intimidation by security forces.

Despite these accusations, government and electoral officials have denied any wrongdoing.

The opposition leader also took aim at Western governments, accusing them of turning a blind eye to the escalating human rights abuses in Uganda.

He pointed to the abduction, illegal detention, and torture of his supporters, and he claimed that some Western leaders were complicit in the suffering of the Ugandan people.

"Some leaders in the West are complicit in our suffering. They are here to crack their (business) deals and they don’t care about human rights," Wine said.

"If they were standing for the values that they profess, then they would be castigating all these gross human rights violations."

Uganda, an important ally of the West in the fight against jihadists, particularly in Somalia, has long received military and financial support from Western nations.

However, Wine’s criticisms suggest that the country’s human rights record, especially under President Museveni, is growing increasingly difficult to overlook.

Wine’s criticism came after the recent detention of Eddie Mutwe, an activist and personal bodyguard to Wine, who has been missing for a week.

Mutwe, a member of Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party, was produced in court on Monday, facing charges of robbery.

Wine claimed that Mutwe had been subjected to severe torture while in captivity, including electrocution, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

In response, Uganda’s justice minister acknowledged that Mutwe appeared to have been tortured during his detention.

Museveni’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who leads the military, reportedly admitted to holding Mutwe in his basement and using him as a punching bag.

Police and military spokespeople have yet to comment on the allegations.

Wine has made it clear that if he is elected, his government would prioritize the restoration of political and civil rights, as well as a crackdown on corruption.

For now, however, he continues to call attention to what he describes as the repressive tactics of Museveni’s government, while urging the international community to stand against the regime’s actions.