National Unity Platform (NUP) president, Robert Kyagulanyi’s wife, Barbra Itungo Kyagulanyi, is admitted after she was reportedly assaulted by military officers who raided his home in Magere, Wakiso District last night.
Detailing events of the Friday night raid, Mr Kyagulanyi, who is currently in hiding, said on Saturday afternoon that the intruders, whom he claimed were in hundreds, broke doors and forced themselves into his house, hit walls, window glasses, and doors using the hammer before ransacking the house as they searched for him.
‘Most were dressed in SFC uniforms, while others were in regular UPDF uniforms and others in plain clothes. Many of them were drunk. They came with ladders, ready to climb upstairs. They broke down our doors and forced themselves into our house. Using hammers, they hit walls, window glass, and doors. They put my wife at gunpoint, asking her to reveal my whereabouts. They stole money, numerous valuable documents, and all electronic gadgets. They took phones, laptops, chargers, our internet system, our CCTV system, speakers, and any electronic gadget they could lay their criminal hands on,’ Mr Kyagulanyi who contests the results of the January 15, 2026 General Election, posted on X.
Following the tense election marred by arrests of opposition supporters and polling agents, President Museveni was declared the winner with 71.65 per cent of the votes cast, while Mr Kyagulanyi came second with 24.72 per cent. The musician turned politician escaped from his home on January 16 following a night raid by the military, and his whereabouts are still unknown.
In the second such operation, Mr Kyagulanyi said the soldiers entered every part of his house, including the ceiling.
‘They grabbed my wife’s phone, forced her to sit down, and ordered her to remove her password. She refused. They strangled her and insulted her. They forcefully removed her blouse and took pictures! Speaking Runyakore, they asked why she would get married to a muganda, and why we would dare challenge Museveni. They beat up our askari (security guard) and housemaid. They ordered the askari to show them where the basement is, where I was hiding. These criminals asked where my children were! My wife was rushed to the hospital where she remains admitted, dealing with all the physical and psychological trauma. Yet in all this, we remain firm in our belief that Uganda will be free,’ he said.
Neighbours reported seeing several military cars snake through the neighbourhood as they made their way to Mr Kyagulanyi’s home at around 10 pm.
‘There were several heavily armed soldiers, mostly from the elite Special Forces Command, aboard the military vehicles. Most of them wore face masks. There were also others in civilian clothing but heavily armed. There were about eight vehicles. Most of the military cars didn’t have license plates,’ one of the neighbours said.
The development comes amid an intensified security crackdown on the opposition following the disputed January 15, 2026, polls in which Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party was declared the winner with 7,946,772 votes cast.
Mr Kyagulanyi, who was declared second with 2,741,238 votes, said several of his supporters have been killed or arrested by the military and police following the elections.
He and other opposition members rejected the results as “fake,” citing allegations of massive ballot stuffing and intimidation.
President Museveni’s son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who acts as the country’s military chief, said on Friday that authorities had detained 2,000 opposition supporters, killed 30, and were hunting for more following the elections in which his father won a seventh term.
Mr Museveni, 81, has led Uganda for nearly four decades. He was declared to have resoundingly defeated Mr Kyagulanyi in the January 15 polls, held during an internet blackout.
In a series of overnight social media posts, Gen Muhoozi gave the first details of the arrests and killings of NUP supporters, describing them as hooligans and terrorists.
“So far we have killed 30 NUP terrorists,” Gen Muhoozi said on X, without explaining the circumstances of the deaths. “Most NUP terrorist leaders are in hiding. We shall get them all,” he said in another post.
The government has accused Kyagulanyi’s supporters of violence during the election, while the opposition says its members were attacked by security forces. Some of the detainees were NUP polling agents, either picked at polling stations where they were deployed or at their homes.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern on Thursday over the arrests and violence involving opposition figures and supporters.
“He (the Secretary General) notes the importance of restraint by all actors and respect for the rule of law and Uganda’s international human rights obligations,” his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Mr Kyagulanyi, who is in hiding after he escaped from his home following a January 16 night raid by the military, has alleged that hundreds of his supporters have been illegally detained in recent months for their political affiliation, and accused authorities of intimidation.
Uganda’s opposition parties and rights activists say some of those arrested are held in unofficial detention centres where some are tortured.
The crackdown intensified with the detention of Muwanga Kivumbi, a lawmaker and Mr Kyagulanyi’s deputy in charge of the Buganda region.
Two other senior NUP figures have been reported missing for days. They are: Dr Lina Zedriga Waru (Deputy President for Northern Uganda), who was reportedly abducted by security forces from her home on January 15, 2026 (Election Day). Her exact whereabouts remain “shrouded in mystery,” with security forces neither confirming nor denying her custody.
Ms Jolly Jacklyn Tukamushaba (Deputy President for Western Uganda) was reportedly arrested or abducted in Rukiga District on the eve of the elections (January 14, 2026). Like Zedriga, she has reportedly been held for over a week without being formally charged or arraigned.
On Friday, Mr Kivumbi appeared in court in Butambala to be charged with terrorism. He was remanded in custody until February 3.
Mr Kyagulanyi, 43, has said he fled his residence after a raid by security personnel shortly after the election.
Mr Museveni is widely believed to be grooming Muhoozi, who has expressed presidential ambitions, as his successor.