Uganda police deny Bobi Wine’s abduction claims
By Joel Masibo, January 17, 2026Uganda Police Spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke has dismissed abduction claims by the country’s opposition leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, famously known as Bobi Wine, two days after the East African country conducted its general election on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
This comes as the National Unity Party reported that Bobi was abducted from his Magere residence during a late-night operation involving a military helicopter on Friday, January 16, 2026. During a phone call interview with Ugandan media, Spokesperson Barbie Kyagulanyi recounted the frightening raid that occurred on Friday night.
Scenes at Wine’s home
“Men are attempting to get into the house. They want to break into the house. They started by removing our cameras, then they brought ladders on the sides, and they have taken out our electricity,” she narrated.
“They have put a loudspeaker outside, and they have a helicopter above. They have a big light on the helicopter that is helping them,” she continued.
Being the closest challenger of the incumbent Yoweri Museveni, who is seeking his seventh term in the presidential race, the NUP leader took to his social media pages on Friday, January 16, 2026, claiming that the Ugandan military had invaded his compound shortly after he cast his ballot, putting him and his family under house arrest.
”Meanwhile, yesterday, after casting my ballot, the military deployed all around my home in order to place me under house arrest. These criminals even jumped over the fence and entered our compound. My house is still besieged – no one allowed to come in or go out. This isn’t strength. They do this out of fear for the people they have offended by committing so many atrocities against them. They do this because they are afraid of the people’s reaction after stealing their vote,” Bobi Wine took to X on Friday, January 16, 2026.
However, in a quick rejoinder on Saturday, January 17, 2026, Rusoke said Bobi Wine’s sentiments are untrue and meant to paint the Ugandan security agencies in a bad light.
Reports not true!
”I would like to issue a statement on behalf of the Uganda Police Force in respect to allegations that are making rounds on some media spaces and have also been shared with other communities that have access to social media platforms, especially outside our jurisdiction,” Rusoke noted.
Rusoke further added that Bobi Wine’s remarks are deceitful and meant to depict the Ugandan Police Forces as violators of the rights of political candidates.
”The allegations are being made that Mr Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, who is a presidential candidate, has been arrested and taken to an unknown location. Some of these allegations are being paraded by his family members. What I would like to say is that these are deceitful and insightful allegations intended to depict the security agencies of Uganda as brutal and violators of the rights of a political candidate. They are untrue and unfounded,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Bobi Wine has rejected the preliminary presidential poll results, questioning the source of the outcome that has put President Yoweri Museveni ahead of him by a very wide margin.