Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, of the National Unity Platform party, attend a ceremony for his nomination as a presidential candidate at the Electoral Commission offices in Kampala, Uganda. Image credit:Bobi Wine
(The Post News) – Uganda’s electoral commission has announced that opposition leader, pop star-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi popular known as Bobi Wine, had been cleared to stand for president, pitting him against Yoweri Museveni for a second time.
In 2021, Wine challenged Museveni but came in second place. However he rejected the results and said his victory had been stolen through pre-ticked ballots, intimidation by security forces, falsification of results and voter bribery.
On Tuesday electoral commission cleared Museveni,81, to seek another term. If he wins, his tenure could stretch to nearly 50 years. Museveni, has ruled the east African country since 1986. Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party now has the largest number of seats among the opposition in parliament with much of its support coming from working-class communities in urban areas.
On Thursday Wine wrote on X, “I am deeply humbled and profoundly honored to accept your nomination to be the next President of the Republic of Uganda.” Wine said for 40 long years, one man and a small group of relatives and friends have ruled Uganda on gunpoint. They have looted the nation and turned every institution of government into a tool of oppression. They have reduced the citizens of Uganda into slaves on their own land. They have turned our poverty into a weapon of control.
“Our country is one of the richest countries in terms of natural resources. So our problem is not lack of wealth. Our problem is lack of leadership that serves the people instead of exploiting them. Leadership that seeks to uplift citizens instead of enslaving them,” Wine said. He said Uganda’s freedom was not only for Ugandans but for neighbouring countries as well that receive them as asylum seekers.
The Presidential Campaign Period will officially begin on 29th September 2025, after the harmonisation of candidates’ campaign programmes with the Commission, according to the electoral commission.
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