The musician turned opposition leader Bobi Wine has said he will stand again against Uganda’s authoritarian leader, Yoweri Museveni, in next year’s presidential elections. Despite being jailed, attacked, shot, and facing threats of violence, including from Museveni’s son, Wine said he felt he had little choice but to try to advance the hope for change that was energising Ugandans, especially the young.
“We cannot just give the election to General Museveni,” he said, in an interview with the Guardian.
The leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, said he expected the January 2026 election, in which Museveni has said he will stand for what would be his seventh term in office, to be bloody.
But, with 80% of the Ugandan population under the age of 35, Wine believes change can come.
“Young people are so hopeful because they see the possibility,” he said. “Ultimately the good will of the people is what is important for this election and for our campaign. They know if you are not given freedom, you don’t have a life.
“I think I stir a lot of hope because I don’t shut my big mouth, and that’s a big challenge to the regime.”
Museveni, now in his eighties, has held power in Uganda since 1986, one of the world’s longest standing national leaders.
In 2021, Africa Elections Watch observers said the election was conducted with “irregularities”, while the US state department called it “fundamentally flawed”. During that campaign, Wine was imprisoned and faced attacks and death threats.
“I am worried about what is ahead, of course,” said Wine. “Thinking about how brutal it is going to be, it’s going to be terrible. We are already seeing signs it will be more brutal. Last month, we had a byelection and one of my MPs died. Died after being tortured by the regime. Journalists were very badly beaten and observers from the US embassy had to leave the field.”
Among the enemies Wine and his NUP party have made is Museveni’s son, 50-year-old Muhoozi Kainerugaba. He was made chief of defence forces by his father and is also chair of the Patriotic League of Uganda, which lobbies heavily for him to succeed the presidency. Kainerugaba has made vicious public threats to Wine on his social media accounts, including saying he was keeping a bullet specially for him.
“More reason to stand up,” said Wine.
“I am convinced that if the world stands firm with us, 2026 could be a turning point. If the world leaders do not stand on the side of oppression, but help; if they criticise and distance themselves from the absence of human rights and democracy.
“I get the feeling right now that the international community is more concerned with diplomacy rather than democracy; more concerned with business than rights and freedom.”
Asked about the impact of Donald Trump’s populist presidency on Uganda, including the huge aid cuts and disinterest in peacekeeping or humanitarian concerns, he said: “We are now in a situation where there is less concern for Africa. If lifesaving aid is cut then how will aid for democracy fare?
“Aid cuts are going to impact Uganda very negatively. But also much aid is diverted to support this corrupt regime. The aid that was helping in the health sector is not there any more, so we are going to have less medicines and more bullets,” he said.
“We have always been asking for targeted sanctions on those in the regime and asking the US not to send their taxpayers’ money to be spent on things that can be used against our people. The guns that kill our people are American guns. The soldiers who torture our people are trained in America.
“So we want America and other world powers not to be partners in crime, but to call out General Museveni for the absence of human rights.
“I believe foreign aid, in many ways, is lost in patronage and corruption, only to have the burden of repayment on next generations. The aid we need is in sticking to values. If we have a good democracy and human rights, that will bring leaders who will stamp down on corruption.
“We lose two-thirds of our annual revenue to corruption – 10tn Ugandan shillings ($2.5bn) stolen every year. That figure comes from the inspector general of government, so it could be more. He could be giving us a low figure. Whichever way, it is huge,” he said.
“Our debt burden is heavy, it will take us 97 years to pay back and of course we have new predators. But I believe it is fixable. We have human resources, we have a young, energised population. We are endowed with natural wealth and resources. If corruption is stamped out, we can make every sector work that could rise us from poverty and indebtedness.”
Wine’s wife, the author Barbie Itungo Kyagulanyi, was a linchpin in Wine’s first parliamentary campaign in 2017 and joined him on the presidential campaign trail in 2020 with her own manifesto for women’s rights.
Their struggle was documented in the Oscar-nominated film Bobi Wine: The People’s President, which was released after the 2021 campaign.
Kyagulanyi was held under an illegal house arrest with her husband in 2021. But she is “energised” for 2026 he says.
“Those who are fighting for freedom, I’m afraid they don’t decide [to do it], they don’t apply. It happens to them,” he said. “For me, I would like to be making music not risking my life, but there is no choice.
“While I am here speaking to you, I don’t know if I’ll be in jail next week. If I am still alive and not in jail by the end of this year, then I’m going to run for presidency, again.”
