Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba has denied claims that soldiers assaulted Barbara Kyagulanyi, the wife of opposition leader Bobi Wine, during a raid at their home.
Wine, who is in hiding, alleged on Saturday that his wife was held at gunpoint by military officers who assaulted her, taking away documents and electronic items. He said the house continued to be surrounded by the military.
Speaking from hospital, Barbara Kyagulanyi said the officers had demanded to know Wine’s whereabouts and had assaulted her when she refused.
It comes after the recent landslide victory of long-serving leader, and Kainerugaba’s father, President Yoweri Museveni. Wine rejected the results citing fraud.
On Monday, the general posted on X that “my soldiers did not beat up Barbie [Bobi Wine’s] wife”.
“First of all, we do not beat up women. They are not worth our time. We are looking for her cowardly husband not her,” he said.
Since Museveni was announced the winner of the 15 January election, the military chief has demanded Wine’s surrender and has issued death threats against him.
Wine said on Monday that Kainerugaba was still looking for him “and issuing threats to harm me” and thanked the people for continuing to keep him safe.
“My wife is still recovering from the trauma of an overnight raid and assault… My home is still surrounded by the military,” he added in a post on X.
From her hospital bed, Barbara Kyagulanyi had described how dozens of men had broken into her house, some in military uniform, harassing and assaulting her.
She said one of the men “hit me on the face and tore my lip”. She said the officer had lifted her from behind by the waistband of her trousers while another choked her as she hung mid-air.
She said the first officer pulled off her blouse, leaving her partially naked, though it was later given back.
She said the officer also pulled her hair and “hit me on the face and tore my lip”.
Barbara Kyagulanyi said she passed out after the ordeal. According to Wine, she was taken to hospital “with both physical and psychological trauma”.
Since the election, the opposition has alleged that its supporters have been targeted by the security forces.
Kainerugaba said on Friday that security officers had killed 30 supporters of the opposition National Unity Party (NUP) led by Wine and detained 2,000 others.
Lawmaker Muwanga Kivumbi, who is a close Wine ally, was arrested for his alleged role in election-related violence last week, which the party denied.
The Uganda Law Society denounced the “ongoing wave of detentions, torture and enforced disappearance” of opposition leaders and supporters”.
“No-one should be subjected to violence by security forces under the pretext of national security,” the society said on Sunday.
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence.
Museveni first came to office as a rebel leader in 1986 and will have served for 45 years when the next term ends in 2031.
