Uganda’s opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, widely known as Bobi Wine, said on Tuesday that military forces had forcibly occupied his home in Magere, Wakiso District, the latest in a series of condemned post-election operations that have left the musician-turned-politician in hiding and prompted growing calls for international intervention.
‘Last night, the military surrounding our home in Magere once again forced themselves into the house. They’re now fully occupying our entire home – inside, outside, and around it,’ Bobi Wine wrote on X.
He added: ‘We are still unable to assess the extent of the destruction caused to the house when they first broke in and vandalised it on January 23.’
The Ugandan army and government have yet to comment on the latest claim, but in a similar incident late last month authorities denied reports of a military operation at Bobi Wine’s residence, a denial later contradicted when Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the president’s son and Chief of Defence Forces, released a photograph last week showing Bobi Wine’s wife, Barbie, seated on the floor and appearing visibly threatened as an armed soldier stood next to her.
The image’s caption read: ‘This is when our soldiers captured and then released Kabobi’s wife Barbie.’
In recent days, Uganda’s information minister Chris Baryomunsi and pro-Muhoozi supporters have clashed over the military posture at Bobi Wine’s home, reflecting tensions within the ruling establishment over how the situation is being presented to the public.
Bobi Wine has largely remained in hiding since the January 15 General Election, in which President Museveni secured a seventh term. Reports of the detention of at least three top National Unity Platform (NUP) leaders and the arrests of over 2,000 other opposition supporters, along with claims of at least 30 killed, as reported by Gen Muhoozi, coupled with ongoing harassment of Bobi Wine’s family, have raised alarms among human rights observers and international legal advocates.
In a February 2 statement, Bobi Wine’s long-term counsel, Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam and Partners LLP, a London- and Washington-based law firm, warned that the continued military occupation and targeting of Bobi Wine constitute serious breaches of Uganda’s obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
‘Uganda is in open breach of the Harare Declaration and the Commonwealth Charter. When senior commanders publicly threaten an opposition leader and the government fails to repudiate those threats, responsibility attaches at the highest level,’ Amsterdam said.
Amsterdam and Partners LLP say they on Monday ‘formally submitted a dossier to the Commonwealth Secretariat, requesting the urgent referral of Uganda to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) for serious and persistent violations of democratic norms, including the repression of political opposition, mass arrests, and threats to life.’
The law firm called for immediate CMAG engagement, fact-finding missions, public guarantees for the safety of Bobi Wine and his family, and coordinated international measures, including sanctions, until Uganda returns to compliance with rule-of-law standards and Commonwealth values.
Founded on principles including democracy, human rights, and good governance, the organization has suspended members in the past, most notably Zimbabwe in 2002, but such interventions remain rare.
Amsterdam warned that the failure of Commonwealth mechanisms to respond decisively could embolden further repression and undermine the organization’s credibility as a guardian of democratic norms.
‘The Commonwealth must act now through CMAG engagement, a fact-finding mission and clear consequences such as the indefinite suspension of Uganda from the Commonwealth. Anything less would indicate tolerance of violence, impunity and the further demise of any hope of even a semblance of democratic rule,’ Amsterdam said.
The Commonwealth, of which Uganda has been a member since regaining independence from Britain in 1962, has yet to comment on the request.