A day after Ugandans went to the polls in mid-January, social media users circulated pictures and footage purportedly showing a surveillance helicopter hovering over opposition leader Bobi Wine’s home, amid claims that he had been abducted. However, this is misleading; although Wine said he escaped a raid on his home the same night, the images and clips of a helicopter hovering over his house are digitally manipulated versions of a 2021 photograph.
“THIS IS THE SITUATION AT THE HOUSE OF PRESIDENT KYAGULANYI SENTAMU AKA BOBI WINE AFTER THE ARMY ARRESTED HIM,” reads the caption of a Facebook post published on January 16, 2026.
Written in the Luganda language, the post features two images of a house at night, illuminated by what appears to be a helicopter searchlight. A third image shows a dimly lit scene with officers atop a vehicle resembling a Ugandan police truck.
A similar claim was shared on X on the same day, this time with a clip purportedly showing the scene.
“Bobi Wine attacked and taken to an unknown place,” reads the caption.
Screenshots of the altered posts shared on X and Facebook, published on January 16, 2026
Similar posts were shared on X, Instagram and YouTube, amid claims that Wine had been abducted.
Uganda 2026 vote
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won 72 percent of the January 15, 2026, election, extending his 40-year rule by another five years (archived here).
The vote was marred by reports of violence, an internet blackout, and long delays caused by technical failures of biometric voter verification kits.
After polls closed, Wine’s party claimed that he was under house arrest (archived here).
On January 17, 2026, the opposition leader said he had escaped a raid on his home in Magere the previous night (archived here).
“The military and police raided us,” Wine wrote on X. “They switched off power and cut off some of our CCTV cameras. There were helicopters hovering over.”
However, none of the photos Wine shared match the images circulating online, which AFP Fact Check found were created using old pictures.
Edited photo
A keyword search for “helicopter at Bobi Wine’s house,” filtered by date, led to a similar image published on X by the opposition leader on January 26, 2021 (archived here).
“Aside from the military and police surrounding us, military and police helicopters have been consistently hovering over our residence in breach of our privacy rights,” reads the post.
A comparison of the circulating image and the 2021 photo shows that the older one was darkened to fit the recent context.
Despite the alteration, some similarities remain visible, including the identical clouds, the helicopter positioned directly above the apex of the roof, the silhouette of the tree trunk in the foreground, and the same plant in front of the house.
Comparison of the altered image (left) with the original photograph taken in 2021
Reverse image searches of the original image traced it to Ugandan photographer Nicholas Bamulanzeki, who posted it on X in 2021.
“ @PoliceUg chopper hovering @HEBobiwine home as he addresses the media this morning #UgandaDecide2021 @observerug,” he wrote at the time.
Contacted by AFP Fact Check, Bamulanzeki confirmed that he took the original photo on January 26, 2021, at Wine’s home in Magere.
“I have seen the manipulated visuals,” he said. “They were created using my photo,” adding that it “causes harm to the truth”.
This photo was likely used as the base image and then animated using artificial intelligence tools to produce the clip shared in the claim.
Similar searches for the picture of Ugandan policemen sitting at the back of an official truck established that it is at least seven years old.
It was originally published (archived here) by the Uganda Police Force on May 14, 2018, in an X post reading: “Night patrol to #ProtectAndServe the Pearl of Africa and ensure her citizens will sleep safe tonight. Have a goodnight tweeps.”
The police image shared in the recent claim is also a darkened version of the 2018 photo.
Comparison of the altered photo (left) with the image published in 2018
A faint purple watermark is visible on all the edited visuals. We traced it to a purple logo reading “Barruti Most IMusic UG,” which appears on TikTok and Facebook accounts associated with a self-described Ugandan-based “super tabloid blogger”.
The circulating images appear on the Facebook account, while the TikTok account features AI-generated clips.
Screenshot of a TikTok account with the purple logo, taken on January 22, 2026
Additionally, the images circulating in 2026 were not published by any credible media outlets.
Uganda’s police spokesman, Rusoke Kituuma, denied claims of Wine’s alleged abduction (archived here).
“These are deceitful and insightful allegations, intended to depict the security agencies of Uganda as brutal, and violators of rights of a political candidate,” he said. “They are untrue and unfounded.”
He also insisted that Wine was at his Magere home, adding that any such arrest would be publicly announced.
Post-election threats
On January 20, 2026, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s army chief and the son of newly re-elected Museveni, threatened to hunt down and kill the opposition leader in a series of now-deleted X posts (archived here).
“We have killed 22 NUP terrorists since last week,” he claimed in one of the posts, referring to Wine’s National Unity Platform party.
“I’m praying the 23rd is Kabobi,” he added, using a nickname for the opposition leader, who remains in hiding following the election loss.