Uganda | Opposition leader Bobi Wine fears for his life

Bobi Wine and his National Unity Platform (NUP) have long been a thorn in the side of Uganda's head of state Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African country since 1986. Wine has been arrested several times , and his party's rallies have been violently broken up. Wine recently told the "nd" that some of his security guards had been kidnapped and that armed men in plain clothes had cordoned off his private house. The Ugandan police chief then announced that on February 21, soldiers had stormed the two party headquarters of the opposition NUP and searched for "evidence of criminal acts." In fact, all computers were taken, furniture smashed, cash stolen and hundreds of party T-shirts destroyed. Bobi Wine finally said: "They are after my life, as the president's son made clear a few days ago."

43-year-old Bobi Wine, a pop musician who was already well-known before his political career and whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, won the last elections in 2021 according to independent observers. According to the state electoral commission, however, Wine received just under 35 percent. The opposition leader spoke of fraud and violence and declared himself and his newly founded party NUP to be the real winners of the elections. Since then, he has been classified as dangerous by Uganda's ruling elite and, like his family, has been repeatedly exposed to threats.

fraud and violence against the opposition

In a tweet read by a million "followers," the son of 80-year-old Museveni used vulgar language to say: "If Kabobi (Bobi Wine's derogatory name, ed . ) even thinks he can continue to cause chaos in Uganda, I will personally put a bullet in his monkey skull!"

This son, 50-year-old General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is the military chief of the Ugandan army and is preparing to become the next president. While his father is still trying to maintain the semblance of democracy, his son is threatening total dictatorship.

Uganda in East Africa, with its population of around 48 million, is not a poor country: the fertile soil allows for productive agriculture, and there are also cobalt and copper mines. The majority of the population has not benefited from this wealth so far - on the contrary: although the country's gross national product is currently growing by around 2.5 percent annually, extreme poverty is increasing - over 40 percent of the population live on less than 1.90 US dollars a day. The reason for this is the high level of personal enrichment of the elites around the president. "Development aid", including from Germany, is stabilizing this situation.

deterioration of the human rights situation

In Uganda, respect for basic human rights has continuously deteriorated. A glaring example is the "Anti-Homosexuality Law" , which introduced the death penalty for LGBTQ+ people in 2023. Reports of arbitrary arrests, torture or the kidnapping of regime critics are not uncommon. Recent developments in the country, which is over 80 percent Christian, indicate that this repression will increase under the influence of General Muhoozi. His death threats are not only directed against the leader of the opposition NUP, but against its supporters in general, as the general made clear in another tweet: "From now on, we will kill anyone who wears a NUP uniform. No question about it!" Muhoozi also announced an "audit" of the Ugandan media, which heralds a further restriction of freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Uganda.

The tweets of Uganda's most powerful military general violate the usage guidelines of the social media platform "X" (formerly Twitter), which at least so far prohibit explicit threats of violence and hate speech. The operators of the internet portal have not yet taken any action against the president's son's account. International platforms thus contribute to authoritarian actors being able to spread their hate speech unhindered.

While General Muhoozi openly threatens to kidnap and murder opposition members, President Yoweri Museveni has so far remained silent on his son's statements. Observers suspect that Museveni is either losing control over Muhoozi or is tolerating his escalations because they ensure that the Museveni family remains in power.

It is urgent that the international community respond to these developments – so that the opposition in Uganda is heard and does not continue to be defenseless against the regime’s attacks.

Konrad Hirsch, filmmaker and journalist from Berlin, has been to Uganda several times and knows Bobi Wine and other opposition figures personally. Lutz van Dijk, Cape Town, author of, among others, "Kampala-Hamburg" (2020) and "Africa - History and Diversity" (from March 2025).