International Pressure Mounts After Bobi Wine Says Army Seized His Home

By skika reporter

KAMPALA — Uganda’s opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has accused the military of forcibly occupying his home in Magere, Wakiso District, intensifying post-election tensions and prompting fresh calls for international intervention.

In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Bobi Wine said soldiers “forced themselves into the house” and are now “fully occupying our entire home – inside, outside, and around it.” He added that his family is still unable to assess the extent of damage following an earlier break-in and alleged vandalism on January 23.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and government had not commented by press time. However, last month authorities initially denied any military operation at the residence, a position later contradicted by Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who posted a photograph showing Bobi Wine’s wife, Barbie Kyagulanyi, seated on the floor as an armed soldier stood nearby.

The development comes as Bobi Wine remains largely in hiding following the January 15 general election in which President Yoweri Museveni secured a seventh term. The National Unity Platform (NUP) says several of its senior leaders are detained, more than 2,000 supporters have been arrested, and dozens killed in post-election operations.

In a statement on February 2, Bobi Wine’s lawyer, Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, said Uganda was in “open breach” of its obligations under international and Commonwealth law. The firm has petitioned the Commonwealth Secretariat to refer Uganda to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and consider suspending the country over what it described as serious and persistent violations of democratic norms.

The Commonwealth has not yet responded.