The Impactful Handshake! Bobi Wine and Winnie Byanyima Join Forces in Washington as Global Pressure Mounts Over Besigye’s Detention

Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has joined Winnie Byanyima in Washington, DC, in a renewed international campaign calling for the release of political prisoners, including her husband, Dr Kizza Besigye. The two Ugandans met at the Lincoln Memorial during an event organised to mark the International Day of Political Prisoners.

The gathering, held on Friday, October 30, 2026, brought together families of detained political figures, former prisoners and human rights activists from different countries. Organised by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) alongside the October 30 Coalition, the event sought to draw international attention to people imprisoned over political disagreements and struggles for democratic rights.

Byanyima later shared photographs and videos of the gathering on her X account, thanking the organisers for bringing together people whose family members remain behind bars. She also praised Bobi Wine for encouraging families and other participants, as the gathering provided an opportunity for Ugandans to highlight concerns about political detention in their country.

Bobi Wine, who has been outside Uganda following the disputed 2026 presidential election, was among the prominent participants invited to the event. The National Endowment for Democracy had announced that the opposition leader would also deliver a musical performance, while other speakers included former political prisoners such as Rwanda's Paul Rusesabagina and Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.

In her address, Byanyima delivered an emotional account of Besigye's political journey, recalling how he abandoned his medical career at the age of 26 to participate in the liberation struggle that brought President Yoweri Museveni's government to power in 1986. She said her husband later became critical of the government he had helped establish and chose to challenge Museveni politically, including in the 2001 presidential election.

Byanyima described the years that followed as a difficult period marked by arrests, imprisonment and persecution. She maintained that Besigye had remained committed to his political beliefs despite the challenges, adding that his current detention and deteriorating health had caused deep concern among his family and supporters. She also called for justice and freedom for detainees around the world.

Besigye has been in custody since November 2024 after being seized in Nairobi, Kenya, and brought to Uganda. He faces treason charges alongside his aide Obeid Lutale and Capt Denis Oola over allegations of plotting to overthrow Museveni's government. The three deny the accusations. His health became a major concern after he collapsed during High Court proceedings in Kampala in July 2026 and subsequently received treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

The Washington gathering has therefore provided Byanyima and Bobi Wine with another international platform to highlight the situation of Ugandan detainees and appeal for their release. Organisers also remembered people who have died in detention and read out the names of prisoners from different countries. Byanyima said families and human rights defenders were united in demanding justice, using the occasion to renew the campaign for Besigye and all other political prisoners.