Ugandan military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba denies troops attacked Bobi Wine’s wife

Uganda’s military chief Muhozi Kenirugaba has denied claims soldiers attacked opposition leader Bobi Wine’s wife Barbara Kyagulanyi during a raid on their home.

Wine, who is in hiding, claimed on Saturday that officers attacked his wife at gunpoint and robbed her of documents and electronic items. He said the house continued to be surrounded by troops.

Barbara Kyagulanyi said at the hospital that police demanded to know Wine’s whereabouts but beat her when she refused.

It follows the recent landslide victory of President Yoweri Museveni, the long-serving leader and father of Kenerugaba. Wine rejected the results as fraudulent.

“My soldiers did not beat Bobbi Wine’s wife,” the general posted on X on Monday.

“First of all, we don’t beat up women. They are not worth our time. We are looking for her cowardly husband, not her,” he said.

Since Museveni was declared the winner of the January 15 election, the military chief has demanded Wine’s surrender and issued death threats against him.

Wine said on Monday that Kenerugaba was still looking for him “and threatening to harm me” and thanked people for continuing to keep him safe.

“My wife is still recovering from the trauma of nighttime raids and attacks… My home is still surrounded by the military,” he added in a post on X.

From her hospital bed, Barbara Kyagulanyi described how dozens of men, some dressed in military uniforms, broke into her home and harassed and attacked her.

She said one of the men “hit me in the face and cut my lip.” She said the officer grabbed her waistband from behind and lifted her up, while the other officer choked her while she was suspended in the air.

She said the co-pilot took off her top, leaving her partially naked, but later returned it.

She said the officer also pulled her hair and “hit me in the face and ripped my lip.”

Barbara Kyagulanyi said she collapsed after the ordeal. She was taken to the hospital and “suffered physical and psychological trauma,” according to Wine.

Since the election, the opposition claims its supporters have been targeted by security forces.

Kenerugaba said on Friday that security agents killed 30 supporters of Wine’s opposition National Unity Party (NUP) and detained another 2,000 people.

Close wine ally, MP Muwanga Kivumbi arrested He was allegedly involved in election-related violence last week, which the party denies.

The Uganda Bar Association has condemned the “continuing wave of detentions, torture and enforced disappearances” of opposition leaders and supporters.

“No one should be subjected to violence by security forces under the pretext of national security,” the association said on Sunday.

Uganda has not experienced a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence.

Museveni, who first took office as a rebel leader in 1986, will have served for 45 years when his next term ends in 2031.