By Josepha Jabo
Bobi Wine has always been branding himself. The first time he branded himself was when he took on the stage name ‘Bobi Wine’ in preference to his birth name Robert Kyagulanyi. Then he rebranded himself as the self-appointed ‘Ghetto President.’ As a musician, to cultivate the ‘Bad Man From Kamwokya’ image, Bobi Wine wore his hair in dreadlocks, smoked marijuana (a highly addictive drug) and was a Rastafarian.
Bobi Wine with dreadlocks. Photo Credit: Daily Nation
Then he launched his political career. Gone was the ‘Bad Man from Kamwokya.’ His ‘new image’ meant cutting off the Rastafarian dreadlocks and wearing sharp suits to appeal to voters in Kyadondo East. Thereafter he became Member of Parliament and once again the name Robert Kyagulanyi was resurrected. After all, he could hardly be called MP Bobi Wine!
Bobi Wine in a suit. Photo Credit: lejournal.africa
Branding or rebranding oneself is intended to create a persona or ‘new image’ and oftentimes this means a change in both appearance and attire. Consequently, Bobi Wine began wearing red and black militaristic attire whenever he was taking his campaigns (political protests) to the streets and has been photographed with his clenched fist in the air doing the power salute. His militaristic slogan “People Power, Our Power” is much more aggressive than Besigye’s “One Uganda, One People.”
Bobi Wine’s Power Salute. Photo Credit: Ghafla!
Bobi Wine’s militaristic attire is intended to give the visual impression or pass on a subliminal message that Bobi Wine is now a soldier. But if Bobi Wine is a soldier, what is he fighting for?
While in Arua, after the stoning of President Museveni’s car by a mob on Monday, August 13, 2018; the media reported Bobi Wine was found hiding in a ceiling of a hotel and that apparently it was a member of his own camp who betrayed his location to Special Forces Command (SFC) soldiers. So, clearly Bobi Wine is not a soldier, in the real sense of the word. He has never enrolled in Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and he does not have a military rank.
Conversely, although he has chosen to rebrand himself as a soldier, his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi, (aka Barbie) claimed in an interview with NTV on Sunday, August 19, 2018 that, “My husband has never had training in gun possession and gun use. I think he does not even know how to assemble bullets in a gun.” She insisted that her husband hates guns. However, a few days after she made this statement, photographs of Barbie and Bobi smiling, enjoying a fun day out at a shooting range, where the happy couple was photographed each holding guns, emerged on social media! According to Wikipedia, ‘A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms qualifications, training, or practice.’
When the #FreeBobiWine hashtag was at its peak, organized demonstrations were held by a few Ugandans living abroad in the Diaspora. Some of these demonstrators were homosexuals (who fled Uganda claiming persecution) and would like a change of government, where homosexuality is legalized. Yet, Bobi Wine has never dissociated himself from their support, although he must be fully aware the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning (LGBTIQ) community threw their support behind him by protesting his arrest.
President Museveni has consistently refused to bend to external pressure to make homosexuality legal in Uganda and we thank God for that! On December 17, 2012 BBC Africa quoted President Museveni saying, “If there are some homosexuals, we shall not kill or persecute them but there should be no promotion of homosexuality. We cannot accept promotion of homosexuality as if it is a good thing.”
On Thursday, September 6, 2018 three events occurred, all of which are connected. Bobi Wine held his Washington DC press conference propped up by his American international lawyer Robert Amsterdam and India legalized homosexuality. The third event was ‘Nyege Nyege’, which began a four-day festival September 6-9, 2018 in Jinja, Uganda; Yet Minister of State for Ethics & Integrity, Father Simon Lokodo, had earlier warned during a press conference held at Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 that ‘Nyege Nyege’ was an event intended to promote homosexuality in Uganda under the guise of a music festival that was promoting culture.
This is the worldwide LGBTIQ Invasion. To rally an army of youth behind you on the streets, plus on social media, to push your hashtags #FreeBobiWine and #PeoplePower requires money. Rumours persist that Bobi Wine is receiving funding from individuals who have links to LGBTIQ.
The Writer works for Uganda Media Centre
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