The arrival of the National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, in Kazo and Kiruhura districts this week was characterised by incidents of violence.
Upon arrival in Kazo, people wearing yellow t-shirts, holding sticks and posters of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Presidential Candidate, Yoweri Museveni, clashed with the NUP supporters.
Similar incidents were witnessed in Kiruhura, where NUP had to cancel a planned rally due to hostility from similar groups stationed around the town, including the venue where Bobi Wine was supposed to hold his rally.
After Kazo and Kiruhura, the team retreated to Mbarara City, where they spent the night, but it was a night many of the NUP supporters would want to forget.
Security personnel raided their hotel, arresting many people in the middle of the night. By daybreak on Thursday, 20 members, including three members of Bobi Wine’s security team, were missing.
The party’s legal team was able to trace them at various police stations across Mbarara City. The arrested included bodyguards Jamshid Kavuma, Kapuff, and Faustin Wanyikinyi (Masaba).
The following afternoon, on Friday, security operatives in Mbarara intercepted Bobi Wine and his supporters, commonly known as foot soldiers, on their way to Bwizibwera Town Council for his second campaign rally in the city after addressing his first campaign rally at Mbarara High School playgrounds.
An unspecified number of the NUP foot soldiers were arrested.
Accusations
Police say the Mbarara operation targeted NUP supporters who have persistently provoked police and engaged in acts of violence against officers.
‘Today, November 7, several arrests have been made in Mbarara District targeting individuals with criminal records, including assaulting officers, destroying government property, and those who obstructed officers on duty were also arrested,’ police said in a statement on Friday.
‘In Busia District, suspects travelling in a NUP convoy assaulted an officer, resulting in a case filed at Busia CPS under CRB 1038/2025. On October 3, during NUP campaign events in Mayuge District, an officer was attacked, sustained serious injuries, and had his phone stolen; this incident was registered under Mayuge CRB 797/2025,’ the statement added.
‘On October 8, during a rally at Bikoma Primary School in Kyankwanzi, NUP supporters assaulted a detective constable. Police intervened to rescue him, but the main suspect managed to disappear within the crowd before a case of assault was opened. On October 21, in Kisiita Town Council, Kakumiro, the windshield of a police vehicle was damaged,’ police added.
But the NUP presidential candidate thinks the arrests are a move to isolate him, as it happened in the last general elections.
‘My personal security remains a target, and I know that. Like they have separated me from my personal bodyguards before, they want to do it even now. Many of our supporters, including my security teams, were picked from their hotel rooms and taken to unknown places,’ Bobi Wine said.
He added: ‘We captured, on camera, some of the crooks who were given sticks to beat up our people and block them from attending our activities in Kiruhura. These criminals foolishly believe that Uganda belongs to them forever. They cannot comprehend that there were governments before and Uganda will be here after Museveni.’
But police say they remain steadfast in their commitment to safeguarding all candidates, but will not tolerate criminality or disorder. ‘Candidates are cautioned against engaging in violence, and any individual choosing this path will be held personally accountable. All political actors are urged to conduct themselves civilly, respect legal frameworks, and maintain peace throughout the campaign period, and follow campaign guidelines as issued by all regulatory stakeholders,’ Mr Kituuma Rusoke, the police spokesperson, said in a statement.
But Mr David Rubongoya, the party secretary general, says they are a peaceful party and are working hard to get all the arrested released. ‘Our legal teams have already been sent out to make sure they secure the release of all our people who were arrested yesterday evening (Friday) and the previous night. We have maintained discipline as a group and we know that what we are doing does not break any law. We have, however, been provoked, intimidated and attacked by the security and other elements from other parties. We hope this comes to an end and [we] continue with our campaigns.’
Fleeing the country
Last week, police raided Bobi Wine’s hotel in Lira and some 17 people were arrested. The following morning, seven were released while the remaining 10 were produced in court on various charges.
‘On October 28, in transit from Lira City to Alebtong District, police officers moving behind the NUP presidential candidate convoy were attacked, their vehicle tyres were punctured, and property was stolen. The following day, October 29, in Abim District, a group of NUP candidate bodyguards assaulted Edibu Emmanuel, who was later hospitalised,’ police say.
Following the raid in Lira, two members of Bobi Wine’s security team fled the country.
Mr Andrew Natumanya, aka Tabz, and Mr Godfrey Onzima, aka High Tower, fled due to what they say is pressure they have come under. Two days after he fled, Tower released a video in which he indicated that he feared for his life.
‘Security personnel have been following me, and they want to abduct me just because I support change in the country. I grew up seeing my mother, who worked as a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) touching blood with her bare hands. I wondered why our hospitals could not do what my mum was doing or at least provide gloves for the work,’ Tower said in the video.
But police said they were looking for items that had allegedly been stolen by supporters of Bobi Wine, pointing out Tabz and Tower as some of the culprits who they were looking for to help in the investigations.
One of the members of Bobi Wine’s security, who also asked not to be named, says: ‘We fear the nights most because we don’t know what will happen. We are always sure that some heavily armed men who trail us will be coming to our doors and make away with so many people and you never know where you would be taken or what charges would be preferred against you, or when you would leave prison.’
Arrested bodyguards
Early this year, Mr Edward Ssebuufu, aka Eddie Mutwe, a bodyguard of Bobi Wine, was arrested in Mukono District and held incommunicado for days.
Eddie Mutwe, with three other civilian bodyguards of Bobi Wine – Achilleo Kivumbi, Gaddafi Mugumya and Grace Wakabi Smart – are jointly facing several charges, including aggravated robbery, robbery, and malicious damage to property. They remain in prison in Masaka. Anthony Agaba, alias Bobi Young, who was arrested in May last year, remains incarcerated.
In December 2020, Bobi Wine had a lonely walk to the polling station after nearly everyone on his campaign team was arrested and released six months after the elections.
At least 126 members of his campaign team, including his entire security team, were arrested in Kalangala District and transferred to Masaka District, where they were held for months. Upon their release, they all decried torture as many of them displayed scars of wounds that had allegedly been inflicted on them during their incarceration.
Stakeholders weigh in
Ms Sarah Bireete, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG), a Ugandan constitutional watchdog, says citizens are on their own.
‘The army and security are some sort of the new form of imposed legal order under the leadership of father and son,’ she says.
She adds: ‘Our extent of degeneration in terms of rule of law and constitutionalism, leading to kidnaps, torture, etc., can only be resolved by the people under Article 3 of the Constitution [which deals with defence of the Constitution]. Parliament, whose duty is to protect the Constitution, is dead.’
However, Mr Obed Katureebe, the acting executive director of Uganda Media Centre, dismisses Ms Bireete’s view.
‘Bobi Wine is protected by the Uganda Police Force, and we know that he is not under any harm or danger. You saw the police statements saying his people around him had caused havoc on them and attacked other presidential candidates’ camps, like for [FDC presidential candidate] Nandala Mafabi. Who are these people? This is a militia. We shall not allow him (Bobi Wine) to run militias as the government looks on. We shall, as the government through the police, arrest any person who is causing insecurity because we are here to protect the entire Uganda.’