National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has defended his decision to leave Uganda, saying he did so to protect his life and that of his family and not to abandon his political struggle.
Bobi Wine, a two-time presidential candidate, made the remarks in an interview with Ugandan journalist Mordecai Muriisa in the United States.
He said his decision to leave the country followed what he described as threats to his life and the safety of his family after the January 2026 presidential election.
Bobi Wine said he believes leaving Uganda was necessary to survive and continue his political activities, arguing that his decision should be viewed as a tactical withdrawal rather than surrender.
“Running to save my life is not abandoning the struggle. All the great revolutionaries I know have always taken what we call a tactical withdrawal,” he said.
He said critics would always question his decisions, regardless of the circumstances, and that he was more concerned about staying alive than satisfying his opponents.
“We must know that naysayers will always have something to say. Even when you survive, they’ll say, ‘You recovered, why didn’t you become a martyr?’ So it is not what the naysayers say that matters, but what we believe in,” Bobi Wine said.
He claimed that his ability to leave Uganda safely was the result of outmanoeuvring security forces.
“I’m alive today because I was able to outsmart the Ugandan military, beat Museveni and his son at their own game, and I left Uganda intact. Otherwise, I would be dead,” he said.
Bobi Wine left Uganda earlier this year after the January 15 presidential election, in which President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner.
He said he went into hiding for several weeks following the election to avoid arrest, adding that security forces surrounded his home in Magere shortly after he voted.
According to Bobi Wine, he eventually managed to leave the country with the help of his supporters after concluding that remaining in Uganda posed a serious threat to his safety.
