Uganda’s main opposition party said Wednesday its leader, Bobi Wine, would run in upcoming presidential elections, likely pitting the popular musician-turned-politician against President Yoweri Museveni.
The East African nation is expected to hold elections in January, with the opposition facing a mounting crackdown as activists and politicians are intimidated, abducted and detained.
Octogenarian leader Museveni declared earlier this week he would seek re-election, hoping to extend almost four decades of iron-fisted rule.
The National Unity Platform (NUP) said Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, had “submitted the expression of interests to contest for the President of Uganda”.
NUP secretary general Lewis Rubongoya told AFP he had submitted the papers to the party, and while the process was internal, “we shall rally behind him this time round for change in Uganda”.
Wine previously contested the 2021 election, which was marred by widespread allegations of voting irregularities and state violence.
He has been arrested numerous times, with Museveni’s son and heir-apparent, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, repeatedly threatening on social media to behead him.
Wine’s announcement comes as authorities increasingly crack down on the opposition.
Last year, Kizza Besigye, another longtime Museveni opponent, was abducted from Kenya and brought to Uganda, where he now faces a possible death penalty in a treason trial.
The charges have been widely condemned by international rights groups, with his wife, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, saying he was being “criminalised” for political reasons.
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