The writer Julius Tumukunde is a politcal activist.
It is 2017 and Bobi Wine is contesting for a political office for the first time. Whereas his elder brothers, Eddie Yawe and Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu had for years been politically active, this was the last arena Bobi Wine ever imagined being part of.
He had made it clear through several interviews that he was never and would never be a politician despite being a strong advocate of social equality and justice through his music. But to borrow Matthew 25: 14-30 preaching, by keeping away from politics, Bobi Wine was demonstrating doubt in God’s sovereignty. “We have an obligation to use those gifts and abilities for His Kingdom. When we don’t we’re acting in disobedience. Burying it takes the talent for granted. We can’t even downplay our gifts and abilities because when we do we demonstrate doubt in God’s sovereignity” – Matthew 25: 14-30.
Good enough he realized the grave sin he was committed and finally responded to his calling by contesting for the Kyadondo MP elections with hardly nothing to start with. He didn’t have that much money to spend on campaigns like what politics in Uganda is known for. He didn’t have any political experience. In fact, nearly all experienced politicians he ran to at least appear at his rallies all shunned him. None wanted to associate with a person they took for a ganja smoker, ghetto kid who worse of all couldn’t meet their asking price.
All he had was his dream. “If Parliement has failed to come to the ghetto, the ghetto will come to ghetto”. And being the ghetto president that meant him going to parliament. Like a typical ghetto person, Bobi Wine was not yet to give up on his newly found dream. He kept in the race. Whereas politicians shunned him, he got a very warm reception from all Ugandans despite contesting for just one of Uganda’s over 500 constituencies.
They ended up being only his campaigners but the biggest contributors towards his parliamentary campaigns. It was thus not a surprise that he won the vote with nearly 78%. His victory was celebrated by the whole parliament. It was celebrated by the whole country.
His arrival in Parliament nearly changed the business in parliament that he led a protest against the removal of the presidential age limit to allow President Yoweri Museveni to contest for life. This was not the last time he would take on Museveni. The two would also come face to face in several By-elections in Jinja, Bugiri and Arua, all won by candidates Bobi Wine had endorsed. At this stage, it was clear Bobi Wine had even gone for a smaller office. In a space of three years, he was the biggest leader in opposition.
Ugandans pleaded with him to take on a task he had never dreamed of all his life – contesting for presidency and indeed he never let them down. Today, Bobi Wine is not only a role model to just ghetto people but Ugandans and Africans as a whole for his story has inspired thousands of youths across the continent to seek political leadership, something hardly seen before.
You might mock, bash or underate him but Bobi Wine will go down in history for his resilience and spot soft for the less privileged.
