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Opposition leader and National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has said that security forces deployed at his home in Magere are guarding an empty house after his wife and children fled the country for safety.
Speaking at the Geneva Human Rights Conference, Bobi Wine said the heavy security presence at his residence remains in place despite the absence of his family.
“They took over my home and surrounded it, and they are occupying it as we speak right now. My wife and children had to flee the country for fear of their lives,” Bobi Wine said.
Following the January 15 presidential election, President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner with 71.6 percent of the vote. Bobi Wine came second with 24.7 percent but rejected the results, accusing the Electoral Commission and security agencies of rigging the election in Museveni’s favour.
Since the polls, Bobi Wine has remained in hiding, releasing a series of video messages calling on stakeholders to reject the election outcome and urging the international community to hold the Ugandan government accountable for alleged abuses during and after the elections.
He further alleged that shortly after the elections, security forces stormed his home, jumped over the perimeter fence and assaulted his wife, Barbie Kyagulanyi, in an attempt to force her to reveal his whereabouts.
Bobi Wine claimed the operation was carried out on the orders of the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
“As soon as the election was finished, Museveni’s son, who is also the chief of the Ugandan military, issued an order to take me to him dead or alive. The military acted on that order, raided my home, tortured my family members, humiliated and undressed my wife while accusing her of hiding me,” Bobi Wine alleged.
He added that the soldiers recorded and photographed his wife during the ordeal, images he claims were later shared online by the military chief.
Until now, the public had not been aware that Bobi Wine’s family had fled Uganda. Last week, NUP Deputy President for the Eastern Region John Baptist Nambeshe, together with other party members, attempted to visit Bobi Wine’s home to check on his family, deliver food items and present court documents for signing.
The delegation, however, was denied access by security personnel guarding the residence. It remains unclear whether they were aware at the time that Bobi Wine’s wife and children had already left the country.
With the revelation that the family is no longer at the Magere home, questions have emerged over whether security forces will continue maintaining a heavy deployment at the residence.
