Opposition leader Wine says he has left Uganda
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said he fled the country to escape a military search following the disputed presidential election.
Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, went into hiding shortly after the presidential election on January 15.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won the election with 71.6 percent of the votes, according to official results that Wine rejected as fake.
Wine’s whereabouts had been unknown to the public for weeks after Chief of Defense Staff General Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted repeated threats against him on social platform X.
Kainerugaba, the president’s son and possible heir, claimed Wine was wanted for unspecified crimes.
Ugandan police say they are not looking for him.
In a video message published on X on Saturday, an unshaven Wine said he managed to leave Uganda but did not disclose where he went.
“Dear Ugandans and friends of Uganda around the world, by the time you see this video, I will have left the country for some critical missions outside Uganda,” he said.
“And when the time is right, I will return and continue the cause. I thank all my Ugandan brothers and sisters who hid and protected me all this time when the regime was looking for me.”
He said it was impossible for Ugandan security guards to find him because “the people were protecting me”.
Ugandan soldiers raided Wine’s home the day after the vote on January 15, but the opposition leader had already gone into hiding, fearing for his life, after weeks of campaigning in a helmet and bulletproof vest at rallies in which security forces were constantly present.
The hunt for Wine is led by Kainerugaba, who has called Wine a “baboon” and a “terrorist”.
Kainerugaba has had a habit of posting offensive tweets for years, which he later frequently deletes.
Wine, the most prominent of the seven candidates running against Museveni, has a large following among youth in urban areas; many of them are unemployed or angry at the government for official corruption and lack of economic opportunities.
Many want to see political change after four decades of the same leader.
In May, 81-year-old Museveni will be sworn in for a seventh term that will bring him closer to five decades in power.
His supporters credit him with the relative peace and stability that has made Uganda home to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence in neighboring countries.
But opposition figures, including former close allies, are condemning what they see as a slide towards authoritarianism.
