Many intelligent old people will vote Bobi Wine

What you need to know:

  • He is by a natural ‘gift’ a galvanising figure who happens to be available
  • Kyagulanyi (or Bobi Wine) and his supporters must, of course be careful; for, as Mario Puzo’s chilling book-title line echoes from the dens of gangster culture, Fools Die.

There are times when President Museveni sounds patently authentic. Directly, without any dilution, his mouth fires something that indicates very clearly the storm raging between his neck and the sky.

Call him what you want, dragging your culture-hawker’s garbage bin like a muck beetle. Museveni has nothing for your bin. What he has spoken, he has spoken, and it is for public consumption. Here is a sample from a ‘lecture’ he reportedly delivered on his campaign trail in Hoima, translated from Runyakitara:

“Kyagulanyi; those who support him are foolish. Those who support him are those who don’t know Uganda. And among those fools are the bazungu (White people)… Then there are fools from Bunyoro. I know them as well. That fool … I know them … I have them in my file. Kyagulanyi’s group is not here. I am going to finish it off because I work under. You be here shouting oyee  oyee …” (Sunday Monitor; December 27, Page 5).
That, reportedly, was His Excellency the President. The breaks – the gaps – have the same force as the words.

Kyagulanyi (or Bobi Wine) and his supporters must, of course be careful; for, as Mario Puzo’s chilling book-title line echoes from the dens of gangster culture, Fools Die.
Desperate, furious, presidential candidate Museveni is confronted by a challenger he is not accustomed to, and that his team did not adequately prepare for.

As far as we know, Bobi Wine has never killed anyone, whether as homicide or on a battlefield. And even as scores of his supporters and other innocents are gunned down, and himself suffers repeated  brutality, he has not promised to kill the enemies of change; and this, in a country where the ruling elite increasingly seems to equate the capacity to govern with the capacity to oppress, to kill, and maybe to bribe. His resistance is expressed in simple songs, simple speeches, and sheer courage.
A ‘weakling’ has refused to fear the NRM machine or to be bribed. Baffled, Museveni’s campaign team does know how to stop the challenger without permanently damaging their own candidate.

Since physical attacks seem not to finish Bobi Wine, attack his character; attack his supposed White backers; insult his local supporters; ridicule the quality of his education.
That is how someone like Mike Mukula, who, after being named in the Gavi and Global Fund scandals, appears to believe he can masquerade as an intellectual and serve Museveni’s candidature by belittling Bobi Wine.

But Bobi Wine does not claim to be a great intellectual. He is by a natural ‘gift’ a galvanising figure who happens to be available when the forces for change need a leader. Intellectuals are national assets that leaders call upon to serve. Museveni also used them in his early days. His current preference for shady and deplorable characters was not always the rule.

Intelligent Ugandans who were old enough in 1986 watched the NRM government when it inspired hope, and they are watching it when it can only bring more pain. They know that before there is change for the country to cleanse and overhaul itself, the descent into decay cannot be reversed.

The narrative that Bobi Wine’s candidature is for young people is only a partial truth. Many intelligent old people – even proven intellectuals – will glance at Uganda’s past, peer into the future and vote for Bobi Wine, even if only to damn Museveni so that he can never secure a satisfying indisputable victory.

Mr Tacca is a novelist, socio-political commentator.
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