Uganda UN envoy dismisses Kyagulanyi’s global activities
“This is a publicity stunt rather than a substantive engagement; anyone can engage people at the Hill. If the Ugandan government was interested in blocking your travels, they would have issued an Interpol red notice,” he told Kyagulanyi via X on Thursday.
Former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi said he had started his international engagements with meetings on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. (File photo)
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Uganda’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, Adonia Ayebare, has dismissed former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine’s international engagements.
On Wednesday (March 18), Kyagulanyi, the president of the National Unity Platform party, said in a post on social media platform X that he had started his international engagements with meetings on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States.
Capitol Hill is where Congress is situated; where the US government writes, debates and passes laws.
However, Ayebare, who was in April last year appointed to Cabinet as an ex officio member, said that Kyagulanyi’s engagements were just a publicity stunt.
“This is a publicity stunt rather than a substantive engagement; anyone can engage people at the Hill. If the Ugandan government was interested in blocking your travels, they would have issued an Interpol red notice,” he told Kyagulanyi via X on Thursday.
“You’re free to return home as you have yourself stated publicly and address whatever grievances you have. Your handlers like @Smith_JeffreyT will struggle to deliver because Uganda stands out as a beacon of hope in the current geopolitical environment.”
Jeffrey Smith is the founder of Vanguard Africa, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to partnering with Africa’s visionary leaders to advance democracy and promote free and fair elections.
On March 14, 2026, Kyagulanyi appointed his deputy, Dr Lina Zedriga, as acting party president after “leaving the country for a while to handle important work”.
“In my absence, my deputy president, Dr Lina Zedriga, who has just been released from prison [on bail], will be acting president,” he announced in a video he posted on X.
He also said that over the next few weeks, he would engage with his friends and allies all over the world before returning to Uganda to continue the push for freedom and democracy.
“For now, let's remain focused and united,” he urged his supporters.
He came second after President Yoweri Museveni in the recent general election, which the latter won with 71.65% of the vote. This is close to Museveni’s highest-ever tally of 74% in the country’s first multiparty election since he captured power in 1986 and ushered in two decades of no-party government.
However, Kyagulanyi continued to claim he won the January 15 election.