Leaders of the National Unity Platform (NUP) have raised concerns about the treatment of security officers who were assigned to protect opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, saying some are facing repercussions for how they handled the assignment.
NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya said the officers deployed to guard Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, were expected to treat him with hostility but instead interacted with him professionally.
“I guess the regime expected these officers to be hostile to the person they were deployed to protect,” Rubongoya said in a statement. “The regime has spent years trying to project us and our leader as the worst human beings, especially to the women and men in uniform.”
According to Rubongoya, some officers who came into direct contact with the NUP leader gained a different perspective after interacting with him.
“But those who get in contact with him get to know the real him,” he said. “They get to understand that he is a patriotic citizen trying to fight for better. They get to understand that we never provoke anybody but are always on the receiving end of extreme brutality.”
Rubongoya claimed that some officers were punished for not acting harshly toward the opposition leader.
“And for that—for not behaving like monsters towards us—they have to pay the heaviest price,” he said, adding that such actions highlight what he described as injustices within the system.
The remarks come amid heightened political activity involving the opposition party. Earlier, Robert Kyagulanyi announced that he would temporarily leave the country to carry out what he described as “important work” and to engage with international partners.
Before his departure, Kyagulanyi appointed his deputy Lina Zedriga as acting leader of the National Unity Platform during his absence.
“I am announcing my brief exit from the country to handle important work. Over the next few weeks, I will engage with our friends and allies all over the world before returning to Uganda to continue the push for freedom and democracy,” Kyagulanyi said in a video message.
NUP leaders say the alleged treatment of the officers reflects broader tensions between the opposition and state institutions, with Rubongoya urging supporters to remain focused on what he described as the struggle for a more just political environment.
“It is these injustices that must keep us determined to fight for a better country,” he said.
