Repeatedly beaten, arrested and harassed by security forces, Bobi Wine gave hope to thousands of Ugandans while running against the president of 35 years, Yoweri Museveni, in the 2021 election. The election campaign was marred by violence – at least 54 people were killed by security forces during protests against Wine’s arrest in November 2020. And since then, there have been countless reports of opposition figures and supporters being arrested and tortured. Mr. Wine even started campaigning in a bulletproof vest midway through the campaign after his car was shot at in Jinja, with a bullet piercing the windshield. In an interview with the New York Times, Wine said “I know they want me dead as soon as yesterday, we are campaigning every day as if it’s the last." Museveni was declared the winner of the election. Wine insists he won, and accuses the military of stuffing ballot boxes, casting ballots for other people and chasing voters away from polling stations.
Bobi Wine's raised hand is seen through the hands of a clapping supporter as he parades though streets thronged with supporters on November 3, 2020 in Kampala, Uganda. The presidential nominations, where presidential aspirants register as candidates, were held on November 2-3, 2020. Two opposition candidates were detained, including Bobi Wine, who was dragged from his car after dozens of security officers surrounded the vehicle carrying him and his aides. In a series of live videos on his Facebook page, a security official can be seen using a lug wrench to break a window of the vehicle, and after a scuffle with the car’s passengers, officers open the door and drag off Mr. Wine. “Jesus, this is what the police are doing,” he could be heard saying before being pulled from the car. “We will not be violent.”