From Bobi Wine to Robert Kyagulanyi

Chijioke Obinna

From Bobi Wine to Robert Kyagulanyi

Ugandés politician, opponent to Museveni, encourages young people to be interested in politics

By Pablo Moraga, From Kampala (Uganda)

The leader of the platform for the National Unit has established itself as the most feasible opposition to Yweeri Museveni, president of Uganda since 1986. In addition to promoting the sense of belonging between the humble neighborhoods of Kampala, the former singer intends that young people commit themselves to the political life of the country.

Without the Internet – the Uganda authorities had blocked all connections – or electricity, the only bridge of Patrick Okech and his companions with the rest of the world was a tiny boot on the wall of a grocery store. It was very hot in that grocery store in a humble neighborhood of Kampala, its hiding place. The metal door was closed with a lock.

– Do you fear?

“No,” Okech replied immediately, without hesitation, while his friends, five Ugandes with less than 25 years, nodded. Fear of what? To lose a life that is not worth it? Do you know what it is to wake up without knowing if you can eat throughout the day?

It was on January 16, 2021. A few hours earlier, Uganda’s media had announced the last electoral victory of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, then with 76 years, in power since 1986. But instead of celebrations, in the humble neighborhoods of the Ugandan capital the silence reigned. The cars or motorcycles that often fill those streets were not even heard. The only thing Okech saw through the hole of his grocery store was a line of soldiers that advanced with decision, without finding any obstacle, on the same sidewalks that were previously overwhelmed by selling vegetables, fast food or pirate cedes.

“We are tired,” said one of Okech’s friends, when the soldiers passed and could no longer hear them. Actually, we have nothing to lose.

In Uganda, politics was an issue outside of young people. Often, they identified it as a waste of time or a dangerous hobby, a perception that the country’s authorities tried to preserve through violence. The electoral period had been marked by the disappearance of hundreds of opposition supporters, especially young people from humble neighborhoods such as Okech and their friends, protests dispersed by security forces. At least 54 protesters died.

However, despite violence, a singer has begun to transform that perception.

Its neighborhood, in Parliament

His name is Robert Kyagulanyi, 43, but everyone in Uganda used to meet him as Bobi Wine, his artistic name. That changed in 2017, when, suddenly, he announced his candidacy to represent his district, Kyadondo del Este, in the Parliament of Uganda. Razed those elections. It took 78 % of the votes. It was popular because it was different from the rest of the politicians, often successful entrepreneurs who used their money to pay their electoral campaigns or people close to the Museveni government. Bobi was nothing like that. He was a guy who had grown up in a poor neighborhood and made himself with songs that talked about the daily problems of the suburbs. Issues that denounced social inequalities.

In 2021, he tried to take another step. Challenge to Museveni in the presidential elections, after years of scattered rallies with tear gas and even real ammunition, persecutions and arbitrary arrests. Lost. According to the electoral authorities, it only obtained 13.48 % of the votes. However, despite his failure at the polls, the singer left in Uganda, one of the youngest nations in the world, with an average age of about 16 years, a revolutionary message: he called for these young people to participate in politics, like him, in a more active way.

Therefore, Okech, a fast food seller who acknowledged that he even recently followed the news of the country, said he had lost his fear. Who was willing to lose his life to get a political change in Uganda.

Threats and violence against the politician

The epic of Bobi Wine’s electoral campaigns, together with his songs, his transgressive speeches, his charisma and his humble past, have created a character that attracts the attention of millions of young ugandes. But he has paid a high price. He has lost friends and has been tortured. On one occasion, some unidentified attackers launched a grenade against their home. He exploded in his daughters’ room. Fears for your life. In an interview in 2021, he told me that he missed “spending more time” with his family and friends, but could not “leave.” “The Ugandes transformed my life, paid for my concerts and songs,” he added. For Bobi Wine, his political career is a way to return to the citizens of the country what they have done for him.

The singer continues to think the same. “It is not the first time we see a repression like this,” says Bobi from the garden of his house, on the outskirts of Kampala. «This happens every time a dictator is about to fall. When Gaddafi Muammar was about to fall, thousands of civilians were killed. The same happened when Robert Mugabe in Zimbabue or Omar Hassan Al Bashir in Sudan were about to fall. And now, the story continues ».

Bobi Wine cut his dreadlocks shortly before starting his political career. You also saw in a different way. He changed his clothes loose for a collection of tight costumes. But its closest people, from their representative for the media to their bodyguards, are people from the same neighborhood where it grew. It is proud of its humble origins, a fact that is not common in Uganda. Do not hide them, something that has encouraged other young people to do the same. Has even brought to the media the jargon of the neighborhoods: the Luyaye.

“It’s our way of communicating,” says Bobi. We like it. It is everywhere. For me, as a musician, it was more interesting to sing in Luyaye. Not only did I spoke, but also sang Luyayeand cool a lot, uncle, cool.

– You said to use this jargon despite being linked to negative stereotypes. Because?

“I didn’t make any decision,” he replies. I am like that, uncle … I just wanted to continue being myself. I don’t want to impress anyone pretending to be another person. I want to communicate what is within me, so that other people think it is not bad to be oneself. I have been rejected many times because I grew up in the Kamwokya neighborhood. But stigma is changing little by little. Every time they love us and accept us more, and each time they respect us more.

The defeats against Museveni and the young

Despite the electoral defeats, which some observers blame the repression and other stratagems of the Ugandés government rather than to the popularity of the singer, Bobi Wine’s message continues to reach many young people. They need to be part of the changes they need, even if they come from a humble environment.

“I often tell myself that, perhaps, God made people like me to break those stereotypes and change that narrative,” says the singer. «Before, the people of the ghettos did not even try to get small political positions, but now I am trying to get the highest position in the country. I know that most Ugandes are like me. Therefore, I believe that my example will give them confidence so that they create themselves and, at the same time, they feel responsible for seeking improvements also for themselves ».

Chijioke Obinna

I've been passionate about storytelling and journalism since my early days growing up in Lagos. With a background in political science and years of experience in investigative reporting, I aim to bring nuanced perspectives to pressing global issues. Outside of writing, I enjoy exploring Nigeria’s vibrant cultural scene and mentoring young aspiring journalists.