KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said Saturday that he fled the country to escape a military search for him in the aftermath of a disputed presidential election.
Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, went into hiding shortly after the Jan. 15 presidential election, in which he was the opposition candidate. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won the election with 71.6% of the vote, according to official results that Wine rejects as fake.
Wine’s location has been unknown to the general public for weeks, with growing concern for his safety after the army chief, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, repeatedly posted threats against him on the social platform X.
Kainerugaba, the president’s son and presumptive heir, has suggested that Wine is wanted for unspecified crimes. Ugandan police say they are not looking for him.
In a video message posted on X on Saturday, an unshaven Wine said he managed to leave Uganda but did not reveal where he went.
“Fellow Ugandans and friends of Uganda all over the world, by the time you see this video I will have left the country for some critical engagements outside Uganda,” he said. “And at the right time I will come back and continue with the cause. I thank all of you fellow Ugandans who have concealed and protected me for all this time when the regime was looking for me.”
He said it was impossible for Ugandan security operatives to find him “because the people have protected me.”
Ugandan soldiers raided Wine’s house the day after the Jan. 15 vote, but the opposition leader had already gone into hiding, fearing for his life after campaigning for weeks in a helmet and flak jacket at rallies where security forces were a constant presence.
The hunt for Wine is being led by Kainerugaba, who has called Wine a “baboon” and a “terrorist.” Kainerugaba has for years posted offensive social media messages, which he often deletes later.
Wine, the most prominent of seven candidates who ran against Museveni, has a large following among young people in urban areas, many of them unemployed or angry with the government over official corruption and the lack of economic opportunities. Many want to see political change after four decades of the same leader.
In May, the 81-year-old Museveni will be sworn in for a seventh term that would bring him closer to five decades in power.
His supporters credit him for the relative peace and stability that have made Uganda home to hundreds of thousands fleeing violence elsewhere in this part of Africa. But opposition figures, including some who previously were his close allies, condemn what they see as a descent into authoritarianism.
Muhumuza writes for the Associated Press.
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