Ugandan Elections: Who is Bobi Wine the 'Ghetto President' advocating for People's Power?

Thirty-nine-year-old Bobi Wine has had a phenomenal life unlike many in the world. Born in Uganda, a small country sandwiched between Kenya and Congo in East Africa, Bobi Wine aka Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu grew up in the slums of Uganda.

Who is Bobi Wine aka Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu?

In the last six months alone, Bobi Wine, a famous musician known for performing ragga music, a blend of rap and reggae had had multiple run-ins with the government, and not just for his music. The local media in the country reported that in a 69-day period alone Bobi Wine was arrested dozens of times, detained 11 times and even shot at 4 times.

Ghetto rapper to President hopeful?

After a narrow escape while no tour campaigning to be President of Uganda, he once famously said, 'I am only glad that I'm still alive. As a child growing up in abject poverty, Wine cleaned cars and sold trinkets on the street. He slowly managed to become one of Uganda's most famous musicians, and his campaigns were filled with revolutionary songs criticism of Uganda's leaders and its politicians. He stated, 'Our leaders became misleaders, freedom fighters became dictators' and targeted the country's President.

Bobi Wine's rise in Ugandan politics

Eventually, after several confrontations with authorities, he decided to join politics himself and in 2017, Bobi Wine became a member of the parliament, where he notably said, 'If parliament cannot come to the ghetto, the ghetto will come to the parliament'.

Bobi Wine's run-ins with authorities

Wine's speeches often criticised the country's corruption and Uganda's authoritarian President-Yoweri Museveni- a former rebel fighter who has stayed in office since 1986. Wine even wore a signature red beret that became so popular for the anti-government stance that President Museveni banned it.
However, tragedy struck soon after his brief foray as MP into the Ugandan Parliament, when soldiers arrested Wine and brutally assaulted him until he could barely walk. They dragged him to court and charged him with frivolous cases and even treason, for which the punishment if found guilty is the death penalty.

An international human rights movement fought his case in court and secured his release after his saga drew worldwide attention. Wine quickly became a hero and a celebrity overnight.

Arrests, police brutality and murder attempts

In 2018, it was reported that Wine's 27-year-old driver was shot, following which a series of murder attempts and deaths had occurred among his family and supporters. However, undaunted, in 2019, Bobi Wine declared his campaign for the 2021 presidential election, where he ran as the self-declared "Ghetto President".

Wine continued to campaign in bulletproof vests and even abstained from disclosing his location until the last minute for each event as many of his supporters were getting shot, arrested and killed on allegedly various bogus charges.

Although when the election concluded, incumbent President Museveni won 58 per cent of the votes and Bobi Wine took only 35 per cent, there are several allegations of fraud in the country, with the media being censored, many consider the election skewed.

The Ugandan President continues to warn anti-fraud protesters to not 'cause chaos and asserted that 'whoever tries to harm the peace and stability will be "broken".' In the run-up to the election, much of Bobi Wine's entourage were arrested, including his musical partner and one of his producers for conspiring in acts of treason against the country.

2021 Ugandan General Election

The President of Uganda is elected using the two-round system, where candidates are required to receive at least 50% of the vote to be elected in the first round. And in the recently concluded general elections, Yoweri Museveni aged 76, has begun his sixth consecutive term as the president of Uganda. 

Ironically, it was Museveni who was critical of the corrupt African rulers and had ‘overstayed’.  However, he already is in the company of other African rulers of the past decade, such as Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Omar al-Bashir (Sudan), and Idriss Déby (Chad) who governed their respective states with an iron hand.

What's next for Uganda?

Bobi Wine tweeted after spending nearly 6 months in jail and said, 'We shan't relent until all the hundreds of others are free, and until Uganda is free!' Wine, who isn't showing any signs of slowing down, has built a powerful following among Uganda's youth. Bobi Wine may have lost but he continues challenging the outcome of the elections. In a country where the median age is around 16, and its President is over 70 years old, it perhaps is only a matter of time until Uganda elects its "Ghetto President" to power.