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Uganda Sets 2026 Rematch as Bobi Wine Is Cleared to Challenge Museveni

Opposition groups warn that arrests, abductions, police force threaten a credible campaign.

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Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, and his wife Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi, attend a ceremony for his nomination as a presidential candidate at the Electoral Commission offices in Kampala, Uganda September 24, 2025. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa
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Overview

  • Uganda's Electoral Commission approved Bobi Wine's candidacy on Wednesday after rejecting his initial submission last week, confirming a rematch with President Yoweri Museveni in January 2026.
  • Museveni, 81, was cleared on Tuesday to seek another term, a move that could extend his tenure to nearly half a century after constitutional changes removed age and term limits.
  • Police clashed with crowds at a Kampala celebration for Wine's nomination, with batons used to disperse supporters and about a dozen arrests reported, including NUP youth leader Allan Sewanyana.
  • Wine and his National Unity Platform cite ongoing kidnappings, detentions and torture of supporters, while the military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba has publicly threatened Wine and admitted holding a missing activist.
  • Wine, 43, finished second in 2021 and rejects those results as fraudulent; his party now holds the largest opposition bloc in parliament with strong urban and youth backing.