Bobi's Presidential Ambitions Must Be Discussed With Sincerity!

Music and politics sometimes come together in that shadow: one of the most beautiful things created by man, and one of the worst things human beings have ever done. Every time I listen to Bobi Wine’s political music, I feel something for my country, and it makes me like him as a person. So many musicians have historically influenced politicians or politics in their country.

Richard Wagner, for instance, influenced Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, even though he was already dead when the 12-year-old Hitler heard his music live for the first time, when he attended a production of “Lohengrin" in the Austrian city of Linz in 1901.Hitler described the experience in the following words: "I was captivated immediately." Wagner's essay titled, "Judaism in Music", influenced Hitler’s anti-Semitism in several ways.

Similarly, many Ugandans listen to Bobi’s music and probably feel the same way as Hitler felt for Wagner. They are captivated, overwhelmed, smitten and delighted, and this explains why the recent Kyarenga concert at Busabala beach was probably the most attended in the history of Uganda. A lot of images showed people in a state of ecstasy. Just like Bobi, Wagner himself conceived his music as political. He didn't want to be merely an artist, and his music was a propaganda tool for his political ideas. Bobi hasn't ruled out standing for presidency in 2021, though he sometimes sound coy about it. He answers the question in a Museveni fashion of 'we shall cross the bridge when we get there'.

But the situation becomes complicated with Bobi when some people fail to separate an opinion one makes about him politically (as an MP or potential presidential candidate), and as a musician. The moment one makes a political opinion about him that appears to be negative; his supporters will call you every name under the sun, which is unfortunate. Basically, any discussion of Bobi is also a discussion of every evil people wish on you, and of the inability of Ugandans to fully understand the current political situation in the country and the dark sides of their own history. Swimming against the tide of posters disagreeing with you is more difficult than those that just abuse you, because those that abuse you don’t deserve a response. Even with the abuses, it has been a fascinating and enlightening conversation for me.

Like I said somewhere else, I keep listening to Bobi Wine’s political interviews to see if there is any miraculous strategy he has got to restore power back to people, but all in vain. He keeps saying that PEOPLE POWER are better equipped to stop rigging compared to FDC and Besigye did in the past, but there’s nothing to demonstrate this at all. Some people cite the by-elections where he has helped some people become MPs, but all that is trash. Museveni doesn’t joke with a presidential election, as he treats it differently. It’s a matter of life and death for him. The current Electoral Commission remains his walking stick.

The way Bobi Wine explains the concept of PEOPLE POWER is almost the same way Museveni explained the NRM concept in 1991:''The NRM is not a party like UPC or DP. Every Ugandan should join the NRM to restore the country to normality. This is the aim of NRM: to unite everybody in order to solve this national crisis before us. Once we have solved our national crisis, if you want to go back to your politics of dividing the country, you can do so after the interim period.....’'

So, you would forgive me if I have not yet taken the wine labelled, 'BOBI-UNSTOPPABLE', because, for now, it’s just literally wine.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.wordpress.com

"Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive." - Henry Steele Commager 1902-98