Pop artist, Bobi Wine set to challenge Museveni in 2021 Uganda presidential election

Earlier this month, opposition political Robert Kyagulanyi, otherwise known as the popular reggae artist Bobi Wine, announced that he will challenge the country’s longtime president, Yoweri Museveni in the upcoming 2021 election. Bobi Wine, a young and vibrant 37 year old represents the generational chasm between the rulers and the ruled of Uganda. President Museveni is reported to be 73 years old and shows no signs of stepping down. He has already abolished the presidential term limit and then the age limit for retirement of 75 years. The median age of his cabinet members is 65, when the median age of the population of Uganda is 16 years. Wine entered politics as a complete political outsider in 2017 when he ran for the parliamentary seat as an independent and without the backing of any political party. He won in a landslide election and has been a nuisance to Museveni and his grasp for power ever since.

Museveni who has ruled Uganda for the last 32 years, faces a serious challenger in Bobi Wine, the current Kyadondo East Member of Parliament (MP), who has gained immense popularity among young people through his popular music and his bravery in challenging the Museveni political power. In one of the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world with 70% of the population under the age of 24 years, Bobi Wine has been able to represent a new generation of young people. As he told BBC after his parliamentarian win, “I am going to stand up for issues. I’m here to give young people confidence.”

The self-proclaimed “ghetto president” began his music career in the early 2000s and has used the musical platform as well as social media platforms to urge Ugandans to play an active role in ending corruption and injustice in Uganda. In his latest 2018 song “Tuliyambla Engule”, which has over 1 million views on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJcqew3dQ9g), the lyrics are explicit “When the struggle is over, we shall wear the victor’s crown, we shall walk with swag in a new Uganda!”. The song features young university graduates, farmers, and young men wearing red berets (the global revolution symbol) together with other famous Uganda pop artists. The song encourages Ugandans to register for a National Identity Card to access the right to vote. During a press conference after the opposition presidential victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Wine told reporters “We have the power to remove the tyrant but we want to do it in a constitutional and civilized way through election, so we call upon all Ugandans to get their National Identification cards come 2021 so that we kick Museveni out of power.”

Beyond the music platform, which offers great visibility and access to the youth in Uganda, Bobi Wine is also using another youth advocacy tool- social media. He has used all major social media channels to reach out to young people and share his messages within minutes through free content sharing. Therefore, it was no surprise to find that a few months into the fight for power, Museveni instituted the world’s first ever social media tax to crack down on dissent. On July 1^st, 2018 the government of Uganda began a tax on 58 different social media services after President Museveni blamed social media sites for the spread of “gossip” and “fake news.” The tax costs 200 Ugandan shillings ($0.05) per day for social media use in a country where 25 percent of the population lives under the poverty line ($1.25 a day, or 4,500 Ugandan shillings).

This added fuel to the already burning fire. Just ten days after the institution of the tax, Bobi Wine led a rally of protesters in the streets of Kampala. They were met by the bullets and tear gas of security forces as they attempted to disperse the crowds. As Wine wrote on his Twitter that day, “There’s no amount of bullets, teargas or arrests that will stop us. Some of our colleagues have been beaten up and others arrested. They must be freed for they have nothing against the police but rather the terrible tax.” Despite the protests and ongoing lawsuits in the Ugandan constitutional court, the tax still stands. Nevertheless, Wine continues to use social media platforms to reach those that can afford daily social media, particularly to raise global attention for his plight after his arrest and detention just one month after the social media tax took effect.

On August 15^th, Wine was arrested with 32 others and charged with treason for allegedly throwing stones at the President’s car during a heavily-contested municipal election in the north-western town of Arua. During the scuffle and chaos with police firing live rounds to disperse the crowd, Wine’s driver, Yasin Kawuma, was shot dead. Wine later wrote on Twitter “Police has shot my driver dead thinking they’ve shot at me.” Wine was detained for two weeks in Gulu and alleged that he faced torture and heavy beating at the hands of the Uganda military’s Special Forces Command (SFC).

The video of Wine’s arrest and the hashtag #freebobiwine first appeared on Twitter the morning following his arrest and soon became a trending hashtag around the world and is still active today. Videos and images of him circulated online together with messages from his family and friends. Through social media channels, concerts and rallies calling for his release were organized and held in Kenya, the UK, and South Africa. International artists such as Chris Martin from Coldplay were among those who came out in support of Wine’s release while international organizations such as Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into the shooting of Wine’s driver

Bobi Wine’s online advocacy worked as many believe that he was only released from prison following widespread protests and pressure from these global activists and governments. When Wine appeared in court for his release, he reported that he had been tortured in detention. Unable to walk or stand on his own, he was instead relying on crutches. The Museveni government dismissed these claims as “fake news^”.

A few days after his release, on his way to board a flight to the US to receive medical treatment for his injuries from the alleged torture, Wine was stopped and brought to a government hospital where he was detained. The re-arrest of Wine triggered fresh protests in Kampala as supporters took to the streets of Kampala to protest the unlawful detention by burning tires and setting up barricades across the streets. The following day, Wine arrived in the United States, just a day after he was denied boarding.

During his time in the US, Wine used the opportunity to call on the United States government to stop the financial support of the Ugandan military. In Washington DC, he held a press conference with his attorney, Robert Amsterdam, and met with US congressmen, Senate and members of the State Department to highlight the human rights violations and repressions of freedoms by the Ugandan government. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Wine urged the US Congress to suspend the $800m support for the Ugandan military. He explained “It’s important, especially to the US taxpayers, to know that much of the military aid we get is actually used to oppress and brutalize the citizens of Uganda. The gun that killed my driver that could have probably killed me is an American gun.”

On his arrival from the US, Wine was arrested again. Police later said in a statement that he was instead “peacefully escorted” home. Again in December 2018, the police attempted to arrest him in Jinja where he was planning to perform at a concert. Wine claimed that the police raided his hotel and arrested many of his friends, while he allegedly beat security to elude the arrest and returned to Kampala. His lawyer Amsterdam issued a statement saying “This is a clear and brazen act of targeted political repression by the Uganda authorities aimed at violating Bobi Wine’s human rights.”

Despite this all, Bobi Wine is not giving up. With his latest announcement to challenge Museveni in the 2021 elections, Musevini and his government are determined to find any way possible to stop him from gaining momentum. Most recently, while meeting with Kampala city youth, Museveni derided Wine as a clown who cannot manage politics and instead he should stay in the music industry.

This is  not anything new to the Museveni presidency. Other main opponents, particularly Kizza Besigye who ran for president in 2006, 2011, and 2016 have been treated the same way as Wine. What is new, is the ability of Wine to appeal to the mass population of young Ugandans with appeals to organize, speak up, and mobilize to end the Museveni presidency.