Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (born 12 February, 1982), commonly known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan activist, politician, singer, lawyer, actor and former member of Parliament. He is currently the president of the National Unity Platform (NUP), a political party in Uganda opposed to Yoweri Museveni's government.
Wine is a former member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. In June, 2019, he announced his candidacy for the 2021 Ugandan presidential election. He participated in the 2021 election, in which, according to official results, he lost to incumbent Yoweri Museveni. As of January 2026, he maintains that this result was fraudulent. On 14 December, 2021, he was placed under house arrest by the Government of Uganda. He continued to protest his arrest. He later went abroad, where he was involved in the creation of a documentary titled The corruption involved in the 2021 election. Upon his return to Uganda on 5 October, 2023, he was arrested. The Peabody Award-winning documentary film Bobi Wine: The People's President chronicled his journey during the 2021 election.
On 7 February 2025, the NUP held an open public debate for all 10 contestants in the 2025 Kawempe North by-election, a first for Uganda. The debate was streamed live on social media. On 25 June 2025, Wine officially filed for the NUP's presidential flagbearer in the 2026 general elections in Uganda, describing the bid as a continuation of his "unfinished mission" and urged citizens to support a "protest vote" to end decades of political repression. One day after the general election, the NUP alleged that Museveni sent an army helicopter to arrest Wine as part of a larger military order to suppress his supporters using "snatch squads" operating on the streets. Wine reported that he escaped the raid on his compound. As of mid-March 2026, he is based outside Uganda.
Early life and education Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, commonly known as Bobi Wine, was born on 12 February, 1982 to the Jackson Willington Ssentamu in a family of 34. He was born in Nkozi Hospital, where his mother, Margaret Nalunkuuma worked as a midwife. He grew up in the Kamwokya slum in the northeastern part of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
Wine attended Kitante Hill School, where he attained his Uganda Certificate of Education in 1996, as well as Kololo Senior Secondary School, where he attained his Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education in 1998. He then attended Makerere University in Kampala, where he studied music, dance, and drama, graduating with a diploma in 2003. In 2016, he joined the International University of East Africa for a Bachelor of Laws degree. Following the advice of his constitutional law lecturer, David Lewis Rubongoya, he transferred from IUEA, which was not fully accredited to teach law at the time, to Cavendish University, which was already accredited. He graduated from Cavendish University in August 2024.
Entertainment career Music career Wine and Mugisha Fadhalmul Toto started their career in the early 2000s, and adopted the stage name BobiRob and pr Toto, akin to his Christian given name, Robert, taking inspiration from Bob Marley, who was also named Robert. He later adapted the stage name Bobi Wine.
Some of his first singles, "Akagoma", "Funtula", and "Sunda" (featuring Ziggy D) brought him success in the Ugandan music scene. His music has been characterized as kidandali, reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat, often with a socially conscious message. He was the leader of the entertainment group famously known as the Fire Base Crew until its disbandment, after which he started a new group known as Ghetto Republic of Uganda. He has released more than 70 songs over 15 years. He also heads a music group called Fire Base.Fire Base
In 2016, his song "Kiwani" was featured on the soundtrack for the Disney movie Queen of Katwe.
The Bobi Wine Edutainment
In 2006, Wine developed a musical style that combined entertainment with songs addressing political and social issues, particularly those affecting underprivileged communities. Some notable songs are "Ghetto" (featuring Nubian Li), "Obuyonjo," "Obululu Tebutwawula," and "Time Bomb."
The messages contained in these music projects were typically aimed at the government and its officials, urging them to take greater care of the underprivileged, as well as encouraging ordinary citizens to be more responsible in their communities. Topics covered include hygiene, maternal health, abortion, child pregnancies, child marriages, domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.
Wine's music often focused on the experiences of poorer communities and contributed to his public profile, leading to the nickname "Ghetto President" and increasing his prominence before his political career.
Film career Wine is also a film actor, mainly starring in local Ugandan movies. In 2010, he was cast in Cleopatra Koheirwe's drama film Yogera. In 2015, he was cast in a lead role in the Twaweza-supported film Situka with Hellen Lukoma. He has also worked on a number of other films, including Divizionz.
Wine had his own reality TV show, The Ghetto President.
He appears in the 2022 documentary Bobi Wine: The People's President, directed by Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp. It was shot over five years and follows Wine and his wife on the campaign trail leading up to the 2021 presidential election. The documentary won a Peabody Award at the 84th ceremony in 2024 and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2024 Oscars.
Political career In April 2016, when Uganda's only radiotherapy machine in Mulago broke down, Wine took a leading position in widespread public anger at the slow official response and posted a critique of the government's handling of public health care, challenging the country's leaders to make better use of citizens' taxes.
Throughout the 2015–16 election period, Wine refocused his messages to call for tolerance of different views. Wine's public calls for calm activism during the 2016 election, with songs such as "Dembe", provoked mixed reactions from different political interests in Uganda. During this period, the Uganda Communications Commission denied that it had banned "Dembe" from Ugandan radio. Three months after the election, the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah R. Malac invited Wine to a formal embassy event and commented that he was a positive influence for local youth.
When the Ugandan government turned off social media during the 2016 election, Wine used a virtual private network to post his defiance to the communications shutdown on his Facebook page while also pointing out that the government continued to use social media during the shutdown they initiated. Wine was later chosen as a panellist to speak about freedom of expression on World Press Freedom Day in Kampala in May 2016. In March 2016, he defended the right of his artistic rivals to express views that Wine himself does not support.
In April 2017, Wine announced his candidacy for parliament in a by-election for Kyadondo County East constituency. His door-to-door walking campaign attracted attention both in Uganda and abroad. He won the contest by a wide margin, beating two seasoned candidates: Sitenda Sebalu of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and Apollo Kantinti of the main opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
In 2018, Wine gained increasing political prominence after campaigning for candidates who won several by-elections against candidates from the NRM and FDC. Around this time, he birthed and popularized the "People Power Our Power" slogan, which would become a strong force in the opposition structure against the NRM government.
Arua by-election incident On 14 August 2018, supporters of the independent candidate for parliament Kassiano Wadri allegedly obstructed and attacked President Museveni's convoy in the northern town of Arua, near Gulu. Museveni's motorcade was allegedly pelted with stones, leading to clashes between security forces and protesters. Later, Wine, an outspoken critic of Museveni, revealed through a social media post that police had intentionally shot at his vehicle, killing his driver. Wine had endorsed Wadri's candidacy against the official pro-Museveni candidate in Arua. Museveni publicly blamed Wine for the incident.
Wine was arrested on 15 August 2018 for possible charges of unlawful possession of firearms and incitement to violence, after which he was brought in front of a military court and charged with the former the following day. It was reported that Wine appeared to have been beaten before appearing in court. Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, a lawyer who has represented detained MPs, said that Wine was in a worrying state of health and needed urgent medical attention. The government has repeatedly denied allegations of torture. Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye called a press conference, where he demanded the MP's immediate release.
With popular protests growing in Uganda demanding Wine's release, and heated discussions in the Ugandan Parliament, the Ugandan State prosecution withdrew the charges filed during Wine's second appearance in front of the General Court Martial in Gulu on 23 August 2018. The prosecution indicated it would further pursue possible charges in a civilian court for a possible trial of the MP. Upon release, Wine was rearrested and charged with treason in a civilian court. In September 2018, Wine was released on bail and travelled to the United States for medical treatment for injuries he allegedly received in custody. The Ugandan government banned his supporters from gathering on the day of his release, and on the day of his return from the United States. He eventually addressed his supporters in a gathering outside his home upon his return to Uganda on 20 September 2018.
In August 2019, Wine was charged with "intent to alarm, annoy or ridicule" President Museveni for his role in the Arua incident the previous year. The charges came a day after the death of Ziggy Wine, a fellow Ugandan musician and staunch critic of Museveni, who was kidnapped and tortured by unknown assailants.
Anti-social media tax protest On 22 April 2019, Wine was detained while attempting to make his way to a planned concert at his private club in southern Kampala, which was cancelled by police. He was accused of leading a protest in the city the previous year without prior police authorization; the protest was held against the "social media tax" which took effect in July 2018. On 29 April 2019, on his way to the offices of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) to honour a summons and provide a statement on the cancelled concert, Wine was again arrested and taken to Buganda Road Court, where he was charged with disobedience of statutory duty and remanded to Luzira Maximum Security Prison until his bail hearing on 2 May. In a statement the following day, Amnesty International demanded his immediate release and urged the Ugandan government to "stop misusing the law in a shameless attempt to silence him for criticizing the government." On the day of the hearing, which was conducted via video conferencing (the first time in the history of Uganda's justice system), Wine was granted bail and released from prison, with the court also barring him from holding unlawful demonstrations.
2021 presidential election
On 24 July, 2019, Wine formally announced his bid to run for president in the 2021 general election. On 22 July, 2020, he announced that he had joined the National Unity Platform party, becoming elected its president and presidential flag-bearer in the upcoming February 2021 general election. Wine was formally nominated to run for the presidency on 3 Nov 2020. Shortly after his nomination, Wine was arrested by the Ugandan military.