Bobi Wine, the dissenting voice that now echoes from exile

BarcelonaBobi Wine, the main headache of the Ugandan regime, is known for having gone from combining his voice with afrobeat in protest songs to making it heard within the walls of the national parliament. There he became, between 2017 and 2021, one of the main voices against government repression. After years of denouncing song after song and from his seat the abuses of Yoweri Museveni, the eternal president of Uganda, the multifaceted opposition leader is currently exiled in the United States.

Real name Robert Kyagulanyi, Wine rejected the results of the last January elections, which once again gave victory to Museveni, in power since 1986. The opposition leader denounced irregularities, fraud, and repression against the opposition. For weeks, he and his family were forced to hide, while security forces searched for him and his whereabouts became an unknown.

In March, Wine reappeared in a video on social media and announced that he had temporarily left Uganda to fulfill some "critical commitments" abroad. He did not specify what they consisted of, but he did make it clear that he did not consider his departure definitive. "At the opportune moment I will return and continue the cause," he assured.

His party, the National Unity Platform, is preparing his return to Uganda, but for now it is uncertain. In April, a fake video even circulated claiming that Wine had already returned to the country, but the images were from 2018. For now, the opposition leader remains in the United States, from where he seeks international support and maintains his fight against Museveni, waiting to return to the country where his songs have never stopped resonating.