Cable News Network (CNN) African correspondent Larry Madowo has issued a cautionary warning to the public after digitally altered images linking Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine to an alleged abduction circulated online.
In a post on his official X account on Saturday, January 17, 2026, Madowo explained that the images were manipulated versions of photographs from six years ago. He urged social media users to approach all online visuals with skepticism in the era of artificial intelligence.
“Someone darkened a 2021 picture to cheat the world into thinking that a helicopter was flying over Bobi Wine’s home at night. In this AI era, assume everything you see is fake until proven otherwise,” he tweeted.
Police Deny Abduction Claims
The warning came shortly after the Ugandan police force dismissed claims circulating online that opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, had been abducted overnight and taken to an unknown location.
During a televised interview on NBC Uganda on Saturday, January 17, 2026, a police spokesperson described the reports as false and deliberately misleading. The official noted that some of the information had been shared by Wine’s relatives and amplified across social media platforms, particularly outside Uganda.
“The allegations are being made that Mr Kyagulanyi, who is a presidential candidate, has been arrested and taken to an unknown location. Some of these allegations are being paraded by his family members,” the spokesperson said.
Authorities emphasized that the reports were part of a coordinated attempt to portray Uganda’s security agencies as abusive, adding that the claims were unfounded and deliberately spread to mislead the public.
Madowo’s warning underscores the growing challenges posed by AI-manipulated content and highlights the importance of verifying information before accepting it as factual, particularly during politically sensitive periods.
