President of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) has described as “diversionary” the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2023).
The bill, which was introduced in parliament this week by fellow opposition party leader Asuman Basalirwa of JEEMA, Bobi Wine says, is a “trick” being played by President Yoweri Museveni to spark confrontation between his opponents in the opposition and their foreign partners.
The bill, he says, is also intended to divert attention from the back to back scandals that have hit Museveni’s government, including the ongoing investigations against several cabinet members over corruption, the NSSF saga and human rights abuses. “It is interesting that this bill is coming up now amid all these scandals; Museveni already knowns what the people of Uganda think about Homosexuality and what counties in the west think. Now he wants to put people like me on the spot for people to hear how I respond.” he said
Bobi Wine, who was appearing on BBS Television on Saturday morning, stopped short of giving his personal views on the proposed legislation. He however, noted that his stand on the LGBT relations had “long been known” by the people around him including those in his party.
“You also know that I have also been banned for ten years from traveling to the United Kingdom because of my stance on the matter. This is now the 9th year of the ban. In fact, recently I was thinking of going to court to challenge for my right to travel.” On the other hand, Bobi Wine questioned the enthusiasm that the bill has been generated by the bill, especially from the heads of religious intuitions.
The Archbishop of Church of Uganda Samuel Kazimba Mugabi has been central in the debate, having recently hinted on cutting relations between the Church of Uganda and the Church of England which came out recently to support same sexy marriage. Last Month, Muslims around the country, with guidance from the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council held peaceful demonstrations against homosexuality.
But Bobi Wine wondered today why these leaders have been silent about other matters of human rights in the country.
“I am still waiting on the Sheikhs to hold protests against the continuous arrests of their fellow Muslims by the government. I am still waiting for the Archbishop to protest about the abduction of Ugandans and the corruption in cabinet.” He also accused some foreign governments and organizations of playing double standards.
“With the previous bill, they came out and cut all the aid to Uganda because they said the bill was against human rights. But I have been asking them, if it was about human rights; the people being kidnapped and killed in Uganda today, don’t they have a right to life?”
“I have been asking them that in the same way you used a lot of energy to cut that aid, you should also cut aid because of the wrongs being done against Ugandans by the government” Hon Asuman Basalirwa, the architect of the anti-homosexuality bill says in the coming 45 days, he will have consultation meetings with all heads of political parties in Uganda to get their views on the bill.
Basalirwa says recently he has been getting questions about whether he had spoken to “one particular opposition leader” on the matter. “But what I can tell you is that by now, I am confident that no political party leader supports this (LGBTQ rights) …I am confident that all the leaders we are together in this,” he said.
THE ROLE OF LAWYERS IN DEFENDING SOCIAL JUSTICE IN A DICTATORSHIP
H.E Bobiwine at ULS
This morning, Bobi Wine, the President of the National Unity Platform and leading voice of Uganda’s pro-democracy movement, delivered a powerful and deeply personal keynote address to the members of the Uganda Law Society and the Ugandan public. His message was as bold as it was urgent: the legal profession must rise to its moral responsibility of promoting social justice by defending human rights and electoral integrity no matter the cost.
With his signature mix of clarity and courage, Bobi Wine opened by reflecting on his own journey and the dream that had been with him since childhood — the dream of becoming a lawyer. A dream that, like many of Uganda’s youth, was delayed by poverty, dictatorship, and lost opportunity, and only came to fruition last year, in his 40s, after years of struggle and sacrifice.
This was not just a personal anecdote — it was a political indictment. Bobi Wine emphasized that the State has a non-negotiable responsibility to subsidize life for its citizens — to provide education, health care, opportunity, and dignity — because only then can every Ugandan have a fair shot at a meaningful life. In his words, “A government that abandons its people to fend for themselves, while looting national resources, is not just negligent. It is illegitimate.”
He reminded the audience that his own delayed education was not due to laziness or lack of ambition, but due to the structural violence of a corrupt and unequal system — one that millions of Ugandan children are still trapped in. “My story is the story of so many,” he said. “We are not where we are because we lacked potential, but because the system was designed to hold us back.”
CALLING OUT JUDICIAL COWARDICE MASQUERADING AS LEGAL DOCTRINE
Bobi Wine then turned his fire toward a subject rarely discussed so openly in Uganda — the complicity of the Judiciary in the oppression of Ugandan citizens. With unflinching honesty, he condemned what he called “judicial cowardice dressed up as legal doctrine.”
He boldly called out the Judiciary’s long-standing tendency to hide behind conservative legal principles to justify injustice and protect military dictatorship. “Since independence,” he said, “judicial officers have repeatedly used ‘doctrine’ as a shield — not to defend justice, but to protect power.”
He especially criticized two specific doctrines that have been used to dismiss legitimate electoral challenges: the ‘Political Question Doctrine’ and the ‘Substantiality Test.’ These, Bobi Wine argued, have become legal tools of repression — used by the Supreme Court to throw out compelling evidence of vote rigging, electoral violence, and fraud in Museveni’s elections.
In one of the most striking moments of his speech, Bobi Wine stated:
“Even when judges know that any single act of rigging—however small—was done to alter the final result… even when they know that no one rigs an election just for the sake of it, but to win it… even when they know that State-led electoral malpractice destroys the legitimacy of the entire election… they still go ahead to say it was not ‘substantial.’”
And why? Because, in Bobi Wine’s words, “They would rather feel safe than uphold their judicial oath.” These words struck deep, drawing the attention not only of those in the room but across Uganda.
LAWYERS MUST CHOOSE: SILENCE OR SOLIDARITY
Bobi Wine reminded lawyers that the law is not neutral. It either protects the people or it protects tyranny. He called on all legal professionals to choose courage over complicity.
“Lawyers, by their training and knowledge alone, must play a central role in achieving a just society. Their inaction in times of oppression makes them complicit. Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality—it is betrayal.”
He invoked the name of Chief Justice Benedicto Kiwanuka, Uganda’s first African Chief Justice, who was abducted and murdered by Idi Amin’s regime. “Ben Kiwanuka refused to bow to tyranny, and he paid with his life. Today, our lawyers fear even to speak. What are we becoming?”
Bobi Wine emphasized that no one is ever safe in a lawless nation. The judges, the lawyers, the politicians — all are vulnerable when a regime begins to devour its own people. “If law cannot protect the least among us,” he said, “then it will eventually fail to protect those who think they are safe.”
THE STRUGGLE FOR A NEW UGANDA
But Bobi Wine’s message was not only one of condemnation — it was also a message of hope, resistance, and responsibility. He called on Ugandans — especially the legal fraternity — to reclaim the law as a tool of liberation, not repression.
He called on lawyers to:
Challenge bad laws and unconstitutional practices Stand up for victims of torture and political persecution Expose the abuse of State institutions by those in power Refuse to normalize impunity and dictatorship
He made it clear that Uganda is at a crossroads, and the legal profession must choose which side of history it wants to be on. “Will you be remembered as defenders of justice — or as enablers of oppression?”
He also reminded everyone that change will not come from the courts alone — but from the collective struggle of all oppressed people. That is why he called for a #ProtestVoteUg2026 — a defiant stand against dictatorship using the very weapon Museveni fears the most: the voice of the people.
“We are building a new Uganda — one built on justice, truth, and accountability. And in that Uganda, the law will serve the people, not those who brutalize them.”
A FINAL WORD
In closing, Bobi Wine warned of the cost of silence, but also affirmed the power of truth. He said the time for fear is over. The time for complicity is over. The time to stand with the people is now.
“Uganda is bleeding. Our children are growing up in fear. Our youth are being abducted, tortured, and murdered for demanding justice. The judiciary cannot keep playing dumb. The lawyers cannot keep hiding behind gowns. The time for polite silence is over.”
If the legal profession will not lead the charge for justice, who will? If the men and women trained to interpret and defend the law cower in silence, then what hope is left for the ordinary citizen?
The future of Uganda depends on a brave and principled legal fraternity. Not tomorrow. Not in some distant time. But now.
NUP LAUNCHES FUNDRAISING DRIVE FOR 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS
Today at our headquarters in Makerere-Kavule, we have launched a global fundraising drive to raise money and other material resources necessary to take us through the forthcoming general elections. We have constituted a Committee led by Hon. Balimwezo Ronald Nsubuga to oversee this exercise. Other members of the Committee include Hon. Kaaya Christine Nakimwero and Ms. Fatuma Kassim.
Comrades who are supporting this cause have been categorized and they will receive certificates from one star to five star depending on the amount that they commit to this cause for instance those who qualify to attain certificates are those who donate UGX 100,000 and above.
We are grateful to party leaders, members, aspiring leaders, and members of the general public who turned up in droves today and contributed generously to the cause.
We humbly appeal to whoever wishes to contribute to either send your contribution through bank or mobile money (see poster below) or bring the contribution physically to our headquarters.
Every contribution is acknowledged with an official receipt, although contributions above UGX 100,000/= additionally get a Certificate of Appreciation. Contributions in cash or in kind (such as branding material, fuel, non-monetary services, etc) are all welcome.
Believe it or not, by year 3020, “BOBI WINE AND PEOPLE POWER” will be a defining topic in African books of history.
Our sons and daughters will have the privilege of reading about this brilliant, fearless, and patriotic young leader who flipped the script, sacrificed his celebrity lifestyle and took it upon himself to free Uganda from a long Serving dictator, M7 who had misruled Uganda for 40 years.
It will be both an inspiring and heartbreaking sad tale for our grand sons and daughters as they will be subjected to scripts that will feature the high Corruption rate , the Impunity, Unemployment,
nepotism, Military rule, land grabbing, endless Murders of innocent Ugandans, and so much more that existed before Bobi Wine’s leadership.
But as they read between the lines, they will shed tears of joy knowing that Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, aka Bobi Wine, and the entire People Power movement eventually triumphed, transformed Uganda, set strong democratic precedents, and paved the way that leaders after them followed to steer the nation in the right direction, the nation our grand sons and daughters will be enjoying by that time.
By then, the People Power revolution will have swept and dismantled dictatorships across Africa, as African nations that were subjects of dictatorship gained confidence after seeing it done in Uganda. By this time, Uganda is now a developed country, the pearl of Africa again – in its true meaning, in all aspects of life social economic and political, Everything went back to normal, you cant believe we have ever had a dictator called Museveni. The days of dictatorship will feel like a distant, unimaginable past.
Statues of Bobi Wine, clad in full People Power combat gear and the iconic beret, stand tall in major cities. People come take photos, shoot films, and document history—without fear of teargas or repression. A free and democratic Uganda finally a reality.
Bwetukomawo, today is February 3, 2025.
The weight of this change rests on our shoulders, and the truth is no one is going to do it for us. If we want a free Uganda, we must rise as a generation, stand together, and take action.
This fight demands more than just hope, it requires courage, trust, discipline, and an unshakable resolve. The forces of oppression will test us as they have done countless tyms but we must stand firm, knowing that every sacrifice, every effort, brings us closer to victory.
And make no mistake, at the end of it all, we shall win. Uganda will be free, and history will remember this generation as the one that refused to kneel before tyranny.
The time is now. The struggle continues. Together, we shall overcome.
Exclusive1 year ago