Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine has told the BBC that he will not challenge the results of Thursday’s presidential election in court, saying he has no confidence in the country’s judiciary.
Speaking from hiding, Mr Wine instead urged his supporters to take part in peaceful street protests, arguing that legal avenues had been compromised.
“The judiciary in Uganda is captured,” the 43-year-old former pop star told the BBC. “We encourage Ugandans to use any legal means to fight back and protect their democracy.”
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, was declared the winner of the election with 72% of the vote, according to official results. Mr Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, came second with 25%.
President Museveni has accused the opposition of attempting to overturn the result through violence, branding them “terrorists”.
‘Fake results’
Mr Wine has rejected the outcome, describing it as “fake” and alleging ballot stuffing, though he has not provided evidence.
“We reject those results because they do not in any way reflect the voting pattern,” he said. “They are completely different from what was recorded at polling stations and on declaration forms.”
Ugandan authorities have not directly responded to Mr Wine’s claims.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) said that while it observed “technical and procedural” challenges on polling day, these did not undermine the overall fairness of the election.
African Union (AU) election observers said they found “no evidence of ballot stuffing”, but criticised the days-long internet shutdown that was only lifted hours after President Museveni was declared the winner on Saturday.
Security fears and house raid claims
During the BBC interview, Mr Wine said he fled his home in a suburb of the capital, Kampala, on Friday night following what he described as a raid by security forces.
“They jumped off my fence, cut off my electricity and disabled the surveillance cameras,” he said. “I saw it was dangerous for me to stay.”
He also accused security forces of preventing food from reaching his wife and relatives, whom he said were effectively under house arrest.
Police have denied raiding his home, saying the security presence was intended to protect him as a presidential candidate.
Mr Wine said he had been unable to communicate with his wife even after the internet was restored, claiming signal jammers were being used near his home.
Arrests, killings and threats
Mr Wine alleged there was an ongoing “silent massacre” of political activists and said more than 100 people had been killed in election-related violence, without providing evidence.
Local media reported that more than 100 youths have been remanded in prison in Kampala on charges linked to election-related incidents.
In a post on X on Monday, Uganda’s army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba — who is also President Museveni’s son — said security forces had killed 22 opposition supporters during poll-related violence.
Gen Kainerugaba also threatened Mr Wine, giving him “exactly 48 hours” to surrender to police and warning he would otherwise be treated as an “outlaw”. Several of the tweets, including one threatening sexual violence, were later deleted.
Mr Wine later shared screenshots of the deleted posts, prompting Gen Kainerugaba to respond with a mocking comment about Mr Wine’s vote share.
“You have heard Museveni’s son promising to harm me,” Mr Wine told the BBC. “He has made threats before and carried them out. That’s why I have to be careful.”
Call for peaceful protests
Mr Wine said he was calling for a “peaceful change” of government and stressed that protests were a constitutional right.
“We encourage Ugandans to evoke any constitutional means to fight back,” he said.
On Tuesday, Kampala police chief Donald Muhwezi told local media that authorities were not concerned about Mr Wine’s whereabouts “as long as he is safe”.
In his victory speech on Sunday, President Museveni said the election result demonstrated the dominance of his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
Mr Museveni first came to power as a rebel leader in 1986 and has since won seven elections. Uganda has never experienced a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence.
