National Unity Platform president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions on President Museveni, Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and other senior government officials over alleged human rights violations.
The opposition leader made the appeal on Wednesday night while addressing global participants via video at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
Speaking while in hiding, Bobi Wine accused the Ugandan government of widespread abuse and impunity.
“Museveni and his son’s military will massacre many more innocent Ugandans,” he said. “Ugandans are not seeking pity. Ugandans are only seeking to see the world take action against the individuals that have violated their rights for far too long.”
He urged Western governments to impose targeted sanctions on specific individuals within government and security agencies.
“Please sanction these individuals. Sanction General Museveni, sanction General Muhoozi. Sanction all the police and military officers that are responsible for gross human rights violations… Sanction the judicial officers that have aided criminality,” he said.
Bobi Wine further called on the international community not to recognize Museveni’s government, describing it as illegitimate.
“We ask the international community not to recognize Museveni’s regime because it is not legitimate,” he stated.
He also alleged that Gen. Muhoozi had threatened his life.
“Muhoozi bragged about killing 22 of my friends, and he said that he’s praying that I am the 23rd person for him to kill,” Bobi Wine claimed.
Bobi Wine was Museveni’s main challenger in the January 2026 presidential election.
According to Uganda’s Electoral Commission, Museveni won with 7,944,772 votes (71.65%), while Bobi Wine secured 2,741,238 votes (24.72%) out of 11,366,201 ballots cast, representing a voter turnout of 52.5 percent.
However, Bobi Wine rejected the results, describing the election as fraudulent.
“Three days to the election, and what happened thereafter was not an election but a military operation,” he said. “The election was so rigged… Our polling agents in several places were arrested and whisked away.”
He alleged that opposition officials were abducted and detained and that the military deployed heavily on the streets during and after voting.
“It was under these circumstances that Museveni… declared himself winner of the election,” he added.
Bobi Wine said he remains in hiding due to what he described as threats to his life.
“Right now I’m speaking to you while in hiding. This is because as soon as the election was finished, Museveni’s son… issued an order to take me to him, dead or alive,” he alleged.
He also claimed that security forces raided his home in Magere and mistreated members of his family.
The Ugandan government has previously dismissed similar allegations of human rights abuses, maintaining that security operations are conducted within the law.
This is not the first time Bobi Wine has called for sanctions. Following the disputed 2021 general election, he made similar appeals to foreign governments, urging action against officials he accused of undermining democracy.
Subsequently, the United States and the European Union announced targeted measures against several Ugandan officials, including travel bans and other sanctions over their alleged role in election-related violence and abuses.
