International Media Now Dethrones Bobi, Crowns Besigye As Uganda’s Opposition Leader

The November 16, 2024 arrest of Dr. Kizza Besigye, the former leader of FDC in Nairobi, has sent shockwaves across the globe. Leading local, regional, and international media outlets condemned the incident.

Surprisingly, Besigye who is among the key political figures at the center of the formation of the People’s Freedom Front (PFF), the sprinter group from the FDC through which he challenged the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni four times, has been crowned as the “Uganda’s opposition leader”, replacing the self-proclaimed genuine face of the opposition, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, the NUP leader.

Bobi Wine, who has been boasting of being Uganda’s most prominent opposition leader since 2017 when he hit the political arena, has seen his rankings dwindle due to his “wanting leadership capabilities.” In 2020, Bobi verbally attacked Besigye, saying, “I am a different opposition leader… Museveni has been contesting with his buddies; here I am to give him a serious challenge like never before.”

In subsequent public appearances, Bobi Wine heightened his verbal attacks against veteran Besigye stating, “You can’t stand for four times and then on the fifth time you tell us that democracy doesn’t work. We believe it works!”

Despite being Uganda’s opposition politics dominant force, Besigye chose to put a moratorium on his two-decade opposition political career, to deny Bobi Wine, a scapegoating path, which is synonymous with Pop-Star musician playing politics as a side business.

Considering that he had been in abeyance for some years, Besigye stood up to reclaim his space in the political arena. He started it by tussling it with FDC Najjananumbi leaders whom he accused of picking hefty bribes from Museveni, which sparked off a protracted fight between his Katonga faction, and Najjanankumbi.

When he realized that it was difficult to retrieve FDC, he planned a building of PFF whose registration process is in advanced stages, as a new political vehicle, and its ideologies often say, it’s launch is soon.

Back in Limelight

As Ugandans were busy awaiting PFF’s launch, they woke up to a screaming headline in the Daily Monitor, announcing Besigye’s missing in Nairobi, quoting an X Post by Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s Wife who said her husband had been “kidnapped” in Nairobi.

Byanyima is the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, (UNAIDs.)

The search for Besigye followed, and both the social media and the mainstream media were all awash with Besigye’s arrest, widely described as “abductions.”

Amid the search, Besigye was arraigned in Military Court Martial in Makindye alongside his long-time supporter Hajji Obeid Lutale where the duo was accused of being in possession of two pistols and soliciting “logistical support in Uganda, Greece, and other countries with the aim of compromising the country’s national security”.

They both denied the charges and challenged the court’s jurisdiction to try him, and they were remanded to Luzira Prison until December 2, 2024.

However, Besigye’s recent arrest has brought him to the forefront of Uganda’s opposition politics. International Media outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and BBC have all referred to Besigye as “Uganda’s opposition leader,” cementing his position as the new face of the opposition.

Overall, Besigye’s Nairobi arrest was covered by International media outlets including; Reuters, France 24, the BBC, Aljazeera, The East African, DW, AP News, The New York Times, Barron’s, Washington Post,The Weekend Australian, CBS19 News, the Jerusalem Post, Yahoo News Canada, etc

In Uganda, the Daily Monitor, which is known to be propping Bobi Wine, named Besigye the Opposition leader in its varied, reports on the matter.

“There is growing local, regional, and international pressure on the governments of Kenya and that of Uganda to explain the circumstances under which opposition leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye was kidnapped, renditioned, and charged at Uganda’s General Court Martial with having illegal firms”, Saturday Monitor wrote.

Kenya’s Daily Nation, and NTV Kenya both sister stations of Uganda’s Daily Monitor and NTV Uganda, described Besigye, the Uganda’s opposition leader.

International Community Speaks Too

The international community also condemned Besigye’s arrest, with Senator Jim Risch, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking member, saying, “Uganda’s abduction of an opposition leader in Kenya raises serious questions about important U.S. partners violating international norms like sovereignty, respect for human rights & rule of law.”

International organizations such as the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), Amnesty International, and the US through The State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs have all issued statements condemning Besigye’s arrest.

Negative Impact On Bobi Wine

The media’s projection of Besigye as Uganda’s opposition leader has significant implications for novice Bobi Wine’s political career.

“Bobi Wine’s leadership capabilities have been called into question, and the media’s including international endorsement of Besigye as the opposition leader is a clear indication that Bobi’s time in the spotlight might come to an end,” an Observer who preferred anonymity said.

“Remember, the International Community has ever tested Besigye’s leadership capacities. The same community has deeply dealt with Bobi Wine, and they are in a position to tell his capacities, and the weaknesses as a leader,” the Observer added.

Another observer added, “The media’s dethronement of Bobi Wine as Uganda’s opposition leader is a significant blow to his political ambitions. It remains to be seen how he will recover from this setback ahead of the 2026 elections.”

In sum, the recent events have also brought to light Besigye’s long history of opposing President Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Besigye has been arrested numerous times and has faced various charges, including treason and rape, unlike Bobi Wine who has been arrested not more than 3 times, of which most of the time security drives him back to his Magere home.

As the media continues to shine a spotlight on Besigye’s arrest, it is clear that he is now the dominant force in Uganda’s opposition politics, unless something significantly changes. Bobi Wine, on the other hand, will have to work hard to regain his footing and prove himself as a viable opposition leader, which he says he is.

In the days and weeks ahead, it will be interesting to see how blabbering Bobi Wine responds to the media’s endorsement of Besigye as the new opposition leader to diminish Besigye’s rising star.