
Mr Nicholas Sengoba
For many, especially in Central Uganda, the ‘two years’ mega music show, dubbed Enkuuka, organised by the Buganda Kingdom, is a must-attend.
As the curtain fell on 2024, on December 31, ushering in January 2025, the expansive grounds of the Kabaka’s Palace (Lubiri) in Mengo was packed with excited revellers. The gigantic stage and all the works was teeming with most of the local music stars belting out their favourite hits.
Enkuuka has over the years become somewhat controversial. At the beginning of the year, Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II would hold a huge key for all to see and symbolically ‘open’ the New Year.
That key at some point was blue in colour, which is also the dominant hue on the Buganda Kingdom flag.
Blue is the colour of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party and the key is their symbol. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) people grumbled that the Kabaka was engaging in a subtle campaign for FDC!
Yet again this year, the immensely popular Afro Reggae musician Robert Kyagulanyi a.k.a Bobi Wine, did not perform at Enkuuka.
Since the leader of the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) joined (opposition) politics, in 2017, he has hardly performed live on stage. A live performance would be viewed by the powers that be as another ‘disruptive’ political rally.
President Museveni explained that the government stopped Bobi Wine from performing countrywide because he was going around the world discouraging investors and donors from funding development in Uganda.
It caused a lot of bitterness among his fan base. Also, the government sunk in a lot of money to promote other musicians and celebrities. It is seen as a way of erasing Bobi Wine from the scene and capturing the hearts and minds of the ‘ghetto.’ The ghetto is the vast army of the less privileged youth especially in the urban areas, for whom Bobi Wine claims to be the president. Their voting pattern is anti-government.
The government brought in Mark Bugembe (Butcherman,) Jennifer Nakangubi (Full Figure,) Ronald Mayinja, Joseph Mayanja (Dr. Jose Chameleon,) Moses Ssali (Bebe Cool) Pius Mayanja (Pallaso,) Edirisa Musuuza (Eddy Kenzo,) Catherine Kusasira etc. Interestingly most of them are Baganda or from Buganda.
But money has not brought love. Deploying most of these musicians to fill the charismatic Bobi Wine gap, has proved to be a daunting task. It is like attempting to replace a legend with a caricature. The fans who view most of these singers as ‘government stooges’ have developed the obnoxious habit of pelting them with bottles and other projectiles whenever they hit the stage.
The organisers of Enkuuka fought to stave this off as it as it inadvertently portrays the event as anti-government. It is in effect an egregious act of intolerance and very disrespectful to the Kabaka and the Baganda. How does one go home and say they were injured or robbed while entertaining the Kabaka?
In 2023 Uganda got a new kid on the block called Patrick Mulwana, alias Alien Skin. He staged a concert on the same day as Pallaso and got an overwhelming crowd. The crowd in a sense gave Pallaso his comeuppance for allegedly being a ‘government stooge,’ and accorded Alien Skin instant success. He presumably reaped a lot from the pro-Bobi Wine fan base.
They say the journey from obscurity to fame should not be obvious. It seemingly got to his head and Alien Skin went all over the place including State House. God knows what water he drank there. Soon he started to compare himself with Bobi Wine and even dismissed the latter with epithets, pejoratives, and unflattering innuendos. The fan base interpreted this as someone who had been compromised by the State like the rest, to demean Bobi Wine. He dug in and called himself the ‘President of the street’ moving around with gangs of hangers-on and other violent sycophants who recently raided a hospital, beat up and injured some staff. Soon the bottles started flying his way.
He wears military fatigues and other colours that are the preserve of the UPDF and walks scot-free. Yet the NUP supporters who are found with the red beret end up behind the prison gate. They break the law with impunity and the Police just pats them on the wrists even though Alien Skin was imprisoned briefly but returned to cause mayhem. He raided the NUP Headquarters in Kavule.
At Enkuuka the bottles did not fly as he surrounded the stage with his gangsters flying Fangon Forest flags. After he was done singing a fight broke out and he announced that during the campaigns ‘it will be worse.’ The next day his gang raided a concert in Buloba clashing with Pallaso who put together a gang and attacked Alien Skin at his home destroying property and injuring people.
Now the campaigns are not a music festival. So what did Alien Skin mean by ‘it will be worse during the campaigns?’
Like we have written here before NRM and Mr Museveni are not yet over the loss occasioned on them by Bobi Wine and NUP in the Buganda region. It now appears the softer more subtle way of taking on Bobi Wine by popularising other musicians while gagging him is not working its way into hearts and minds.
It is apparent in the run-up to the 2026 election, these gangs may set up a period of chaos within Buganda Sub-region just like we had in the 80s in Luweero. In that period the Baganda suffered immensely and retrogressed politically, socially and economically. In this case, with the contention being between Baganda musicians and their gangs it will be viewed as ‘Baganda fighting and killing themselves.’ That very way, it was claimed during the 20-year war in the North as the National Resistance Army (NRA)/UPDF fought Mr Joseph Kony’s rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). It spiralled out of control, causing abductions and gruesome killings. NRM politicians washed their hands and said that Mr Kony was ‘killing his people’ as if that thug ever owned the Acholi and it was not the government’s responsibility to protect citizens.
Alien Skin is an agent provocateur and Pallaso is simply collateral damage. The target is Bobi Wine and the Buganda vote and crowd he commands.
If Alien Skin who really has nothing to lose reputation-wise, manages to provoke Bobi Wine into creating violent gangs to fight back, then two things will happen.
First it will give the State an excuse to ‘intervene to restore order.’ That will be a licence to pick up NUP supporters and coordinators and lock them up in the run-up to the election. That will instil fear and curtail their ability to campaign.
Secondly, many people will view Bobi Wine as an agent of chaos and violence. They will either stay away from voting or reluctantly vote for ‘peace,’ which means voting against Bobi Wine.
In 2021 Northern Uganda capitulated after many years of voting for the Opposition. The wars and upheavals pushed them to a pragmatic decision for their survival. In Buganda, many are looking at what will happen to especially the main cash crop coffee, and how the government will handle it. If the revenues go down with the recent rationalisation, and economic activity suffers due to uncertainty, the coded message will be to quietly concentrate on farming and business and leave politics in the cold. The winners and losers in such a scenario are obvious.
Mr Sengoba is a commentator on
political and social issues.
X: @nsengoba
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