Unverified: There is No Evidence That President Museveni Gave Bobi Wine USD 10 Billion To Relocate To The U.S.

A claim circulating online is fuelling speculation about Uganda’s political landscape by alleging a secret financial arrangement between President Museveni and opposition leader Kyagulanyi. The claim, presented as “breaking news”, has sparked debate among netizens, with some questioning whether it explains Kyagulanyi’s exit from the country.

The Claim
A video on TikTok alleging that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is no longer pursuing the leader of the opposition and the National Unity Platform (NUP) party president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, because he was given USD 10 billion to relocate to the United States and “enjoy life with his family” is unverifiable.

With over 500 likes, the post made with a quote attributed to Frank Gashumba, claiming he “broke silence” on the matter reads: 

“Breaking,” This man is playing mind games. President Museveni is not even looking for him before his exit to the USA. He was given USD 10 billion to enjoy life with family, omusiru siruwala, omugezi geziwala. he is good at playing on people’s minds, he is actually a businessman, Frank Gashumba breaks silence on Bobi Wine, this has sparked public debate uhmm ahh”

Facts
Bobi Wine was reported to have left Uganda and “gone into hiding” for about two months immediately after the January elections, to the U.S. here, here, here, here, and here. According to Kyagulanyi, he went into hiding because the government was allegedly looking for him, as reported by the Daily Monitor. 

“The National Unity Platform (NUP) principal, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, has said he is in hiding after he managed to escape from his home in Magere, Wakiso District, following a night raid by the military and police.” reads the first paragraph of the Daily Monitor story

According to our findings, there is no public record, official communication, or credible reporting to support the claim that Bobi Wine received USD 10 billion from the Ugandan government or President Museveni. The findings stated:

Additionally, Bobi Wine’s travels and political activities are widely documented through verified media coverage and his official communication channels; however, none of these indicates any relocation arrangement tied to a financial settlement.

The Findings
When we used the Info Verifier tool for an additional search level, the results showed that there is no verified evidence to support the claim that President Museveni gave Bobi Wine 10 million USD…

The results also indicated that none of the credible fact-checking sources, such as Debunk Initiative or PesaCheck, mention any such transaction. Claims of this nature often circulate as rumours or misinformation, especially in Uganda’s politically charged environment. A YouTube video titled Bobi Wine given 10 million dollars appears in the search results but is marked as an [UNVERIFIED SOURCE], so it should be treated with caution. Therefore, without confirmation from reliable sources, this claim remains unsubstantiated.

We went ahead to check the video referred to by the tool and realised it is of Gashumba making the statement during a radio show, alleging that Bobi Wine was given that money; however, he did not provide the evidence, which leaves a lot of speculation at this point. He continued to make pro-NRM comments, praising President Museveni for making such a move instead of wasting it on tear gas. 

We then did media monitoring of both local and international media outlets about the allegation, and our findings showed that, other than the video referred to by the verifier tool, no report of such a payment or agreement was made. If such a transaction was made and the details of it were accessible to the public, it would likely be covered by major outlets such as Daily Monitor or New Vision, given its scale and political implications; however, no such reporting exists.

We also looked into the source of the information. “Breaking news” is often used by media houses to give urgent news; however, the source of the news is not credible. The account belongs to an individual who is not a journalist, a media house or an authority in that field.  

Verdict
Unverified. There is no evidence that President Museveni gave Bobi Wine USD 10 billion to relocate to the United States. The claim is based solely on an unsourced TikTok. Kindly dismiss the claim. 

This fact-check was produced by NAMAJJA ELIZABETH with support from the Debunk Media Initiative and BBC Media Action.