Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has stated that security forces have killed 30 supporters of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) and arrested over 2,000 individuals following the disputed presidential election that secured a seventh term for President Yoweri Museveni.
In a series of posts on X, Kainerugaba described the deceased as "NUP terrorists" and the arrested as "hooligans" allegedly mobilized by opposition leader Bobi Wine, whom he referred to by the nickname "Kabobi."
"So far we have killed 30 NUP terrorists," he wrote, adding, "We have arrested over 2,000 hooligans that Kabobi thought he would use." He further noted that most NUP leaders are in hiding and vowed to apprehend them all.
The statements come amid heightened tensions after the January 15 election, which the opposition has contested as fraudulent. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, remains in hiding, while the United Nations Secretary-General has expressed concern over the wave of arrests and reports of violence.
Opposition figures, including NUP officials, have been detained, with reports of at least seven killed in clashes and hundreds more arrested in what the NUP describes as a campaign of intimidation.
Human rights groups and international observers have called for investigations into the killings and detentions, highlighting ongoing issues of arbitrary arrests and suppression of dissent in Uganda. The government maintains that the actions were necessary to restore calm after post-election unrest.
This development has drawn global attention to Uganda's political landscape, where President Museveni, in power since 1986, faces growing opposition from younger demographics supporting figures like Wine.