Ugandan opposition leader goes abroad after two months in hiding

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine says he has left the country after spending two months in hiding following January's disputed election.

Bobi Wine says he has gone abroad for "critical engagements" and to help mobilise the international community against President Yoweri Museveni.

The pop star turned politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, repeated his claim to have won the presidential election, saying it had been rigged in favour of Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.

Museveni, 81, won the election with 72% of the vote and has accused the opposition of seeking to overturn the results through violence.

Wine's statement, posted on a five-minute video on X, called for targeted sanctions against Museveni. It was his first public appearance in weeks.

While some members of the government have denied that the security forces are looking for Bobi Wine, Museveni's son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is head of the country's military, said he was "wanted dead or alive" and also threatened to castrate him. Those messages have since been deleted from his X account.

He did not accuse Wine of committing any specific offences.

The BBC has asked the police for comment.

Wine, 44, alleged that the authorities had repeatedly raided the homes of his supporters looking for him, including as recently as Thursday, as well as setting up roadblocks around the country. He said that his house in the capital, Kampala, was still surrounded by the military, as it has been since election day.

"I thank all you fellow Ugandans who have concealed and protected me all the time while the regime was looking for me," he said in the video.

He denied having broken the law, saying "running for president is not a crime".

Following protests against the election results, Kainerugaba, widely seen as a potential successor to his father, said that 30 "terrorists" from Wine's party had been killed.

Additional reporting by Richard Kagoe

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