In a strongly worded press address, Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has decried the ongoing wave of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial detentions of opposition members, branding the country’s current security environment as “state-sponsored terror.”
The President of the National Unity Platform (NUP) warned that Uganda is descending deeper into a crisis where basic human rights and civil liberties are not only denied but violently crushed by state agencies operating above the law.
“Uganda has become a hunting ground. Security operatives are moving around in drones and unmarked vehicles, snatching innocent citizens off the streets, from their homes, and workplaces simply because of their political affiliation,” he said.
President Kyagulanyi accused operatives of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) of maintaining illegal detention centers, especially at Mbuya, where abductees are tortured, kept incommunicado, and denied legal recourse.
“These are not facilities of justice they are torture chambers,” he stated. “Our comrades are being blindfolded, beaten, electrocuted, and subjected to unimaginable cruelty. Their only crime is believing in change.”
The President emphasized that his party has credible information that several missing NUP members are held in these dungeons, while others are deliberately moved to avoid detection.
Addressing a growing narrative among some regime spokespeople that opposition members are staging their own disappearances to create political drama, Bobi Wine called the claims both “absurd and insulting.”
“How can someone claim a person abducted themselves only for that same individual to later appear in court, bruised, tortured, and barely alive? These statements are not just lies; they are acts of cruelty to the victims and their families,” he said.
Kyagulanyi gave updates on several NUP comrades who have recently disappeared under suspicious circumstances, including:
Eddie Mutwe, his close aide, whose abduction was reportedly carried out by a team that included a known plain-clothed agent, Muhumuza.
Michael Mpalanyi, taken from Matugga on March 18th.
Ssentongo Shakur, abducted the same day in Jinja.
Douglas Nsambu, still missing with no trace.
“The fate of these brave Ugandans remains unknown. The police have washed their hands of any responsibility, yet every indication points to the involvement of security forces. We have petitioned the courts with habeas corpus applications, demanding that these comrades be brought before the law if indeed they are still alive.”
President Kyagulanyi reaffirmed that the only way to break the cycle of fear, abductions, and dictatorship is through what he calls the #ProtestVote a decisive, collective stand by Ugandans against the oppression they face.
“The Protest Vote is our weapon against injustice. It is the voice of the voiceless, the hope of the oppressed. It is not just about casting a ballot, it’s about sending a message: we are tired, we are angry, and we are ready for a new Uganda,” he declared.
He stressed that the NUP will continue to peacefully mobilize Ugandans to reclaim their power and resist the culture of silence that the regime is trying to enforce through fear.
President Bobi Wine ended his statement with a rallying cry to the international community, human rights organizations, and all freedom-loving Ugandans:
“We must not remain silent while our brothers and sisters are taken in the dark of night. We must not normalize abductions, torture, and fear. This is the time to rise peacefully, fearlessly, and united and demand a Uganda where every life matters and every voice counts.”
