Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu enjoyed relative success as a pop star in Uganda but the musician known by his stage name Bobi Wine is also causing a stir on the political scene ahead of next week’s presidential election.
The 38-year old is widely seen as the main challenger of President Yoweri Museveni in the January 14 presidential election.
His popularity especially among Uganda’s largely youthful population appears to have shaken the Museveni government which is accused of resorting to crackdowns to cower him.
The 20th of at least 33 siblings in a polygamous home, Wine’s humble beginnings seem to be providing him with the inspiration for his cause to unseat Museveni, provide employment to Uganda’s army of jobless youth and tackle poverty.
Severally arrested, detained, tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed, Wine has alleged several near misses on his life and goes around wearing protective gears including a helmet instead of his signature red beret.
Over 50 people presumably Wine’s own supporters have died in running street battles with the police since November.
The electoral commission has discouraged political rallies, saying they could be so-called “superspreaders” of the coronavirus and accused Wine and his opposition National Unity Platform party of flouting Covid-19 health regulations which frown on gatherings of all kinds including political campaign meetings.
His NUP have on the other hand decried what they called a politically motivated crackdown bent on intimidation ahead of the crucial vote.
Wine reputed as one of Uganda’s most successful contemporary musicians, won a seat in parliament in 2017 and has since the build-up to the poll been seen as Museveni’s main contender from among eleven challengers for the presidency.
The 76-year old who is bidding for a fifth term, came to power after waging guerilla warfare in 1986.
He has been widely credited for presiding over a relatively stable Uganda following the turbulent years under late Milton Obote and Idi Amin.
But Wine believes, “old man Museveni represents the past” while he embodies the future of Uganda where the war against corruption would finally be won.
He says his tough life as a child whose mother struggled as a hawker to put food on the table and funded his education makes him a natural choice to deliver poor Ugandans from the clutches of a political system that has long outlived its sell-by date.
Like his music, Wine’s campaign mantra seems to be catching on with an important section of Uganda’s 46 million people – the youth.
By the government’s own estimation four out of six youth are jobless unemployed, a high figure for country with Africa’s youngest populations.
All these factors are combining to provide Museveni his sternest electoral test since the early 2000s.
In Bobi Wine’s own words, the political field resembles a war zone pitting the “army of change against the forces of continuity”.
WN/as/APA