Bobi's Nbs Interview Was Unsurprisingly A Total Disaster

I watched Kyagulanyi Robert aka Bobi Wine’s interview on NBS TV last week and it was a total disaster. He seems to relish humiliating himself during TV interviews either for profit or politics. He's basically less informed, he is very immature, like the Peter Pan boys, and this has nothing to do with his age because he’s now biologically considered an old man. His answers weren’t good enough and he didn’t address some major concerns about the opposition in general with balance and moderation.

Bobi fans will spin conspiracy stories about how the media want to sink Bobi,but his answers on NBS TV opened him up for a world of hurt. It showed that he does not really have solid policy ideas beyond a few core points, he has an extremely poor grasp of complex international policies and relationships, and he appears to have little or no understanding of many of the most critical things he will have to deal with if he becomes elected.

A lot of his answers were worthy of a know-nothing dim bulb. For instance, he was asked why he said that the 2021 elections would be different from the previous presidential elections, and his answer was that they were different which wasn’t true. The worst part was when he went on to ignorantly list things that he thought happened during the 2020-21 elections but, apparently, hadn’t happened in the previous elections.

He once said in 2022 that he wasn’t going to participate in elections again without major reforms, and he was asked if he still held the same stand. His response was, ‘‘what do you want me to tell you?’’, then a pause, and then tried to divert to a by-election -'' We have been in Kawempe elections, blah blah’’. When Kungu Mahdi, the moderator, pressed him, he confirmed that he was going to stand again in 2026, and It's hard to hear this and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry because of the way he answered it with a mocking smile - he was mocking the docile populace and it hurt that someone can take advantage of people that support him in that way.

The repeated use of the word ‘egali’(bicycle) was kind of surprising since it’s not a proper Luganda word, but it’s something he probably learned during his time in ghetto life. I wouldn't expect anyone to so loudly proclaim that they can't comprehend basic Luganda to explain 'election monitors' to people. He is basically contributing to the evolution and the dying of Luganda as a language.

Then, there was a meltdown about Kampala and leadership failure – where he ended up unsurprisingly stabbing the current Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, in the back as he called for all elective posts to be filled with only NUP candidates come 2026. He did the same in the previous elections against opposition candidates,including Lukwago, and he would sometimes support NRM candidates over opposition candidates.

BY-ELECTIONS
I was mainly drawn to his celebration of Kawempe by-elections because he made it look like the beginning of something, or it's significant in any way.

People should remember that Bobi was on the campaign trail several times last year for by-elections and selling NUP on the ground. Campaigning, with his usual passion and drama, for the Kigezi and Dokolo NUP candidates. NUP lost them, but Kawempe was a surprise win for many – surprise in the sense that the violence displayed showed that Museveni wanted the constituency by hook, and Museveni always gets whatever he wants in Uganda. So, an NRM loss wasn't expected.

In a way, Museveni ended up tactically getting what he wanted. He showed that the most popular candidate always wins regardless of the violence in an election. So, how will anybody make a different argument against him or his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, when either of them expectedly emerges the winner after the 2026 elections.

NUP lost the other two by-elections partly because Ugandans have changed. They know that Bobi isn’t the complete article and also the things that worked in 2020-21 no longer seem to work now. It partly explains why NUP got 900 votes in Kigezi and about 200 in Cecelia Ogwal's constituency. They luckily won in Kawempe North because Museveni probably had other intentions, including indirectly selling the NUP secretary General to Ugandans.

I predict that NUP will not do as well in Buganda next year as it did in the previous election. In 2020-21, Some Baganda felt they were being lectured and they felt pushed into some sort of box where they had to support candidates because they're tribesmates. And that if they supported someone of different tribe or “sat some elections out” then they were “complicit” in the loss or in cahoots with the bad man in government. It felt like a pretty blatant case of “identity politics” in which tribalism and creed Museveni all, and they were kind of being shamed for their supposed discomfort with supporting Baganda who weren't suitable.

In September 2023, Kyagulanyi gave a speech in Luwero in which he addressed “the brothers and sisters in Buganda” (as in, fellow Baganda) and their reluctance to support a fellow Muganda. He also predictably insulted Museveni, Muhoozi Kainerugaba and the former NRA bush fighters, but it did not go down well. A lot of people felt like they were being lectured by a mere former presidential candidate, as if he's the first to stand against Museveni.

When this Luwero speech and others, like one recently in Dokolo, backfired, it kind of dawned on me that it was a major historical moment — the moment “identity politics” died, once and for all. No one likes to be shamed or guilt-tripped into voting a certain way by a smooth-talking finger-wagging politician, no matter how charismatic and personable he is.

Bobi deliberately fanned and exploited identity politics in Uganda for his own benefit in 2021, particularly in Buganda, and it's very satisfying to see so many Baganda and other tribes refusing to be badgered into it today.

In the interview, he cleverly avoided talking about Mpuuga as a person, but the fact is that Bobi has failed to assert his influence on rebel MPs within MP – some like Mathias Mpuuga, Abed Bwanika, and others, are openly criticising him. Another section of supporters has recently unveiled a new party called People Power Front (PPF) with the same colours as Bobi’s NUP. He still has influence within the leadership of his party, but to the wider public, he’s just another former presidential candidate who is going to contest another election to get some MPs as ‘cash- cows’ – yes, to make money out of them.

The secret of Bobi’s success is that he’s “bulletproof” to criticism particularly among his supporters. Any criticism no matter how legitimate is always attacked not just on the merits but also with some version of “you’re only saying that because you support NRM.” For example, we hear of how NUP tickets were sold for astronomical prices in 2020, and then recently before the Kawempe byelections, but not even the authorities have bothered to investigate the corruption in NUP. Any other party in opposition that had that kind of corruption going on would be considered tainted. Anyway, despite grand narratives pushed by social media, the reality on the ground is one of stagnation and strategic failure by Bobi Wine.

All in all, it was really a joke of an interview. Bobi gave us the gaffes we were desperately hoping for, but he also didn't really have any stellar, standout moments. He basically has thoughts but cannot articulate his thoughts properly, or, worryingly, he seemed to smile jokingly when he didn’t know how to answer questions. The whole interview was like that -- Long on soundbites that feed the supporters, short on policy specifics or indeed any awareness of the genuine complexities of running a country. --

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