The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has strongly denounced what it describes as the siege and effective house arrest imposed on the family of National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known as Bobi Wine, at their residence in Magere, Wakiso District.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, the ULS demanded the prompt withdrawal of all security personnel from the property. It argued that the continued presence of forces violates fundamental rights and contravenes a prior 2021 High Court ruling prohibiting such deployments.
Bobi Wine, who came second in the January 15, 2026, presidential election with 24.72% of the votes (behind President Yoweri Museveni’s 71.65%), has been in hiding since the results were declared and has relied on social media for communication.
On Monday (prior to January 20), he posted claims that security operatives had surrounded his home, restricting his wife Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi and other family members from leaving, blocking access to essential supplies including food, damaging perimeter security features, cutting padlocks on gates and replacing them with chains, and creating an unsafe environment where occupants reportedly faced harassment, including banging on doors and profane commands while some personnel appeared intoxicated.
ULS Vice President Anthony Asiimwe stated: “The Uganda Law Society unreservedly condemns Government for the unprovoked invasion and barricading of the Magere home of Honourable Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, subjecting his family and other occupants to house arrest and unlawful restrictions.”
The society emphasized that Uganda’s 1995 Constitution protects personal liberty, freedom of movement, and the right to an adequate standard of living—including access to food and necessities. It described the restrictions as direct infringements amounting to degrading and inhuman treatment, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and deprivation of livelihood.
The ULS further criticized public remarks attributed to Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba on his verified X account, where he reportedly stated that 22 NUP supporters had been killed in poll-related violence and expressed hope that Bobi Wine would be the “next” casualty. The society labeled these comments as deeply troubling, a dangerous escalation of impunity, and inconsistent with the constitutional duties of the armed forces.
Police have characterized the security deployment as a protective measure for the former presidential candidate. However, the ULS maintains that its real impact constitutes unlawful confinement and siege.
The statement framed these events within a wider context of post-election intimidation, shrinking civic space, and human rights concerns following the January 15 polls.
ULS Vice President Anthony Asiimwe added: “The Uganda Law Society calls for the immediate cessation of all forms of unlawful confinement, siege, or external restrictions imposed on Honourable Robert Kyagulanyi and his family.”
The organization urged security agencies to operate strictly within legal bounds and called for a political environment where leadership contests occur through ideas and policies, free from coercion, deprivation, or threats to life and sustenance.
“Ugandans deserve a society where political leadership is contested through ideas and policies, not tactics of coercion, deprivations, or threats to life and sustenance,” the ULS concluded.