NUP headquarters cordoned off by SFC- Bobi Wine

National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine said Friday that his party headquarters in Kampala had been raided by soldiers attached to the elite Special Forces Command (SFC) minutes after Uganda’s military chief who is also President Museveni’s son threatened to capture him and other party mobilisers. 

“SFC soldiers have just raided and cordoned off our headquarters! Ugandans at home and abroad must rise up and protest against Museveni and his brutal son!,” Mr Kyagulanyi who recently declared his intentions to challenge long-serving President Yoweri Museveni for the second time in 2026 posted on his X platform.

His statement came barely an hour after Mr Museveni’s son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who serves as the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) said Mr Kyagulanyi will “look very smart after I shave off all his hair and call him recruit!.”
Gen Muhoozi, 51, also threatened lethal consequences against the Opposition party supporters and mobilisers.

“I have only ONE warning to NUP's so called 'Foot Soldiers'. If I can arrest your so called 'Commander' like an Nsenene, imagine what I will do to you. You either disband or you will face lethal consequences,” Ge Muhoozi posted on Friday, hours after he confirmed holding Mr Kyagulanyi’s chief civilian bodyguard, Mr Edward Ssebufu, commonly known as Eddie Mutwe, who was reportedly abducted by security operatives attached to SFC in Mukono District recently.
Earlier today, Mr Kyagulanyi said the party leadership had organized a solidarity gathering at their headquarters at 2pm.

“Eddie Mutwe is all of us. Today it is him, tomorrow it could be any one of us. Museveni's brutal son is illegally holding, torturing, and dehumanizing him while he boasts about it. He says he is teaching Eddie Runyakore! Eddie represents more than himself. He represents all of us who dare to dream of a just and free country. As painful as these times are, we must not despair. All Ugandans of good conscience must come together and coalesce around the values that bring us together as a people. We must renew our commitment to fight on until Uganda is free! Please join us today, 2:00pm at Makerere - Kavule for a Solidarity Gathering. This is a non-partisan opportunity to unite. Friends of Eddie and other Ugandans of good conscience, let us come together in solidarity not just with Eddie but all political prisoners!” Mr Kyagulanyi posted on X.

Mr Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, the NUP deputy spokesperson told this publication that the solidary gathering was a protest against illegal detention of Mr Ssebufu.

“We are under total captivity, we cannot hold any activity, we wanted to protest for the illegal abduction of our brother Ssebufu was was illegally ubducted, the current situation is alarming in general we are facing at deadly adventure  in the Uganda's political landscape,” Mr Mufumbiro said.

The latest incident adds to growing concerns about the targeting of opposition figures and supporters as political mobilisation activities intensify ahead of the 2026 general elections, which many citizens fear will likely be marred by violence. 

Enforced disappearances and violent arrest of opposition supporters have happened on multiple occasions before, during, and after the 2021 presidential elections in which Mr Kyagulanyi, a musician turned politician challenged President Museveni who has been in power since 1986 when he shot his way to State House through a five-year guerrilla warfare. Many of the disappeared opposition supporters resurfaced during their arraignment in the General Court martial, while others were abandoned on the roads with torture marks.
Gen Muhoozi’s posts come barely two days after UPDF soldiers under the command of a lieutenant stormed a police station in the capital Kampala, detained several policemen, including their commanders, and civilians who had gone to report different cases before beating them up. Many of them were admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Gen (rtd) Museveni, 80, in some of his public addresses has warned the UPDF not to deviate from their original values that endeared them to Ugandans.
According to the President, the past national armies lost support of the citizens because of disregard for human rights through brutality.
“People were desperately fed up with the brutality and non-accountability of the old armies, the colonial army, Uganda Army and the other one UNLA, so UPDF must be very careful; you must never adopt the habits of these old armies…Brutality, corruption, if you do that, the people will hate you and that is what had happened; the people hated those armies,” Mr Museveni during celebrations to mark the 42nd Tarehe Sita anniversary at Kakyeka stadium in Mbarara City on February 6, 2023.

Mr Museveni, who is also the commander-in-chief of Defence Forces, said during and after the Bush War, Ugandans loved the UPDF because they were preaching patriotism rather than hatred.