NUP says Police, UPDF officers helped Bobi Wine evade arrest

Leaders of the National Unity Platform (NUP) have claimed that some security officers quietly helped their party president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, evade arrest during nearly two months in hiding.

Speaking after Kyagulanyi confirmed that he had temporarily left Uganda, party officials expressed relief that he managed to avoid capture despite a nationwide search by security agencies.

“We thank God that our president is alive and has managed to elude security services for two months,” David Lewis Rubomgoya, the party's Secretary General said.

“This shows that these people are not as smart as they claim. They always say a person cannot disappear in this country without being located, but our president proved otherwise.”

Rubongoya said Kyagulanyi managed to move across different areas while relying on ordinary citizens for protection and shelter.

He revealed that Kyagulanyi often sought refuge in churches, where he spent time praying, and occasionally entered restaurants where he even helped serve food while blending in with other people.

“We thank NUP members and other people who protected and hid our president all this time. We remained in contact with him, and he told us he was approaching ordinary people for shelter.”

On top of this, the NUP SG said some officers from the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) encountered Kyagulanyi but deliberately chose not to arrest him.

Some, he claimed, even warned him when security teams were approaching and advised him to leave certain areas to avoid being captured.

“Sometimes police officers and UPDF soldiers saw him but did not arrest him. Others even advised him to leave the area if a team had been sent to look for him.”

On Saturday, Kyagulanyi released a video message confirming that he had travelled abroad to pursue what he described as critical engagements and to rally international support for Uganda’s democratic cause.

He said that during his absence, the party would be led by Deputy President Lina Zedriga as acting president. 

Kyagulanyi also thanked supporters, religious leaders and some members of the security forces whom he said helped protect him while authorities conducted raids on homes of his associates and set up roadblocks across the country.