Kampala, Jan. 14, (dpa/GNA) – Uganda’s main opposition candidate, Bobi Wine, is a hit with the country’s youth.
The arch-rival of incumbent President Yoweri Museweni is not only a young politician, at a tender 38 years old. He is also one of the East African nation’s most popular singers and pop stars, who has garnered support thanks to his modern views on politics and society.
In other words, Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is pretty much the opposite of autocratic Museweni, 76, who has clung to power for 35 years and is one of Africa’s longest-serving heads of state.
Wine gave up his career as a singer in 2016 to join politics in time for that year’s general elections, during which he won a seat in parliament.
When he declared his intentions to compete in the January 14 presidential poll last year, Wine turned from a mere thorn in Museveni’s side into a massive political threat.
Wine has since then become the target of ceaseless police brutality and been detained multiple times.
He has led repeated anti-government protests, been openly critical of Museveni and is widely regarded as Uganda’s “voice of the voiceless.”
Wine, who counts as the first ever real threat to Museveni’s power, was brought up by a single mother in a slum outside of the capital, Kampala.
Self-motivated and ambitious, he worked his way out of poverty, and through hard work managed to attend university, where he graduated with a diploma in music, dance and drama.
But despite his fame and wealth – Wine has amassed a small fortune thanks to his music career – the lean, bearded pop star-turned-politician has remained humble and down to earth.
It’s a quality rare in African politics and hugely popular with Uganda’s youth, which is hoping for a new dawn in a country struggling with high unemployment, poverty, lack of infrastructure as well as weak health and education systems.
GNA