Bobi Wine

Profile Overview

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (born 12 February, 1982), commonly known by his stage name "Bobi Wine", is a Ugandan activist, politician, singer, lawyer, actor and former member of Parliament. He is currently the president of the National Unity Platform (NUP), a political party in Uganda opposed to Yoweri Museveni's government.
Wine is a former member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. In June, 2019, he announced his candidacy for the 2021 Ugandan presidential election. He participated in the 2021 election, in which, according to official results, he lost to incumbent Yoweri Museveni. As of January 2026, he maintains that this result was fraudulent. On 14 December, 2021, he was placed under house arrest by the Government of Uganda. He continued to protest his arrest. He later went abroad, where he was involved in the creation of a documentary titled The corruption involved in the 2021 election. Upon his return to Uganda on 5 October, 2023, he was arrested. The Peabody Award-winning documentary film Bobi Wine: The People's President chronicled his journey during the 2021 election.
On 7 February 2025, the NUP held an open public debate for all 10 contestants in the 2025 Kawempe North by-election, a first for Uganda. The debate was streamed live on social media. On 25 June 2025, Wine officially filed for the NUP's presidential flagbearer in the 2026 general elections in Uganda, describing the bid as a continuation of his "unfinished mission" and urged citizens to support a "protest vote" to end decades of political repression. One day after the general election, the NUP alleged that Museveni sent an army helicopter to arrest Wine as part of a larger military order to suppress his supporters using "snatch squads" operating on the streets. Wine reported that he escaped the raid on his compound. As of mid-March 2026, he is based outside Uganda.