A screenshot shared on TikTok of an X post purportedly by Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, endorsing Muhoozi Kainerugaba's presidential bid has been found to be fake. The screenshot was shared after the Kainerugaba-led political pressure group Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) launched a campaign seeking signatures to endorse the Ugandan Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) for a presidential bid come 2031.
In the purported post, Bobi Wine, the leader of the opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP), allegedly wrote: "Greetings my fellow Ugandans, I second you to go and endorse Gen Kainerugaba. I believe many things can change under his leadership. We no longer need to fight each other. We need a peaceful country free from corruption and he is doing a great job fighting it." However, this post does not appear on Bobi Wine's official X account.
Instead, there are multiple posts by the exiled opposition leader complaining about Kainerugaba's actions, including allegations of ordering abductions of citizens opposed to his political aspirations. PesaCheck conducted a keyword search which yielded no confirmatory results, but instead led to articles about the possibility of Bobi Wine and Kainerugaba being on the same ballot paper in 2031.
To further verify the post's authenticity, PesaCheck contacted Bobi Wine through WhatsApp, who responded, "Of course this is fake." Indeed, an analysis using the web tool Wayback Machine did not reveal any history of the alleged post being deleted. This suggests that the post was never actually published on Bobi Wine's account.
Meanwhile, information on the PLU website shows the group had collected 49,294 signatures endorsing Kainerugaba as of 29 September 2026. The PLU's campaign is part of a larger effort to promote Kainerugaba's presidential bid, which has garnered significant attention in Uganda.
PesaCheck's fact-checking initiative is part of a larger effort to combat misinformation on social media platforms. By partnering with Facebook and similar platforms, PesaCheck and other third-party fact-checking organisations help to sort fact from fiction and provide the public with deeper insight and context about the posts they see in their social media feeds.
The fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Flavia Nassaka and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Mary Mutisya and chief copy editor Stephen Ndegwa. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah. PesaCheck is East Africa's first public finance fact-checking initiative, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein.
Key points
- A screenshot of a post purportedly by Bobi Wine endorsing Muhoozi Kainerugaba's presidential bid is fake.
- Bobi Wine did not endorse Muhoozi Kainerugaba's presidential bid, according to PesaCheck's fact-check.
- The Patriotic League of Uganda had collected 49,294 signatures endorsing Kainerugaba as of 29 September 2026.
