National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, widely known as Bobi Wine, has urged Ugandans to channel their anger and hope into the 2026 elections, framing the vote as a lawful mass protest against what he described as forty years of repression under President Yoweri Museveni.
Speaking shortly after his nomination by the Electoral Commission on Wednesday, Kyagulanyi said: "We are going into this election as a way of protesting against the injustice that has been occasioned to us for the last 40 years. We are protesting, and the protest begins now."
He recalled the violent aftermath of his 2021 campaign, noting that many supporters were arrested, tortured, killed, or remain missing. "Many of our brothers and sisters were tortured. Many of them were arrested, still in prison, many were killed, and many are missing to the present day," he said.
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Despite these risks, Kyagulanyi called for resilience and discipline. "Risk it all, because eternity is giving up, and that is 10 times worse," he said.
The NUP leader stressed that his movement will pursue a disciplined, lawful approach: "We are going to use this election to protest legally. We are going to use this election to protest constitutionally, and we are going to use this election to protest non-violently," he said, urging mobilisation in numbers "too big to rig."
Kyagulanyi called for coordinated strategies among opposition forces to ensure mass participation. "We must lay different strategies and make different plans to ensure that we, the people of Uganda, get our freedom in this season," he said.
He also appealed to Ugandans in the diaspora, whom he described as the country's "largest investors" through remittances exceeding $2 billion, stressing the importance of their engagement despite fears of abduction and intimidation.
Paying tribute to political prisoners and missing persons, he said: "If we give up now, we shall have no moral authority to complain about what happens next," linking their sacrifices to the broader struggle for freedom.
Kyagulanyi's rhetoric seeks to broaden NUP's appeal by shifting emphasis from street protests to election-focused mobilisation.
The challenge ahead will be transforming this rhetoric into disciplined voter participation while avoiding violent confrontation, with security agencies' conduct expected to play a decisive role.
