Ugandans see hope in 38-year-old Bobi Wine amid opposition crackdown as country heads to election
Pascal Oparada
For close to three days, the hashtag #WeAreRemovingADictator remained a top trend on Twitter. A cursory look shows Ugandans using the power of social media to rally each other as they seek to unseat a 76-year-old Yoweri Museveni, the country’s president.
Their most powerful platform, the internet has been shut down 48 hours to the election which many see as the most keenly contested since Museveni came to power over 30 years ago.
Twitter and other social media sites have decried the crackdown on the internet in the country especially on messaging platforms like WhatsApp.
85 per cent of the country’s population are below 40 years old and that is where the main challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine comes from.
The demography that is challenging the incumbent in Uganda today were either toddlers or not born when Museveni became president.
The main opposition headed by Bobi Wine is crying against a crackdown. They are not allowed to hold physical campaigns. Bobi Wine himself has been arrested and assaulted multiple times. There has been an attempt on his life. He has lost his driver in the attack.
Recently, video footage surfaced online where his wife was assaulted, beaten up and stripped naked by security operatives in the presence of her son.
Bobi Wine has also cried out on social media that his security aides of 18 years have been withdrawn.
Young Ugandans say they are parting ways with the old order generation headed by Museveni whom many see as a despot dressed as a democrat.
But they also see another snag in their quest to oust Museveni. He is very popular with the West, especially in America.
They hope that the U.S. would be distracted by its recent political turmoil enough not to interfere and install Museveni the sixth time.
In Bobi Wine, Ugandans believe that there is hope to part ways with the past and launch a vibrant future for its teeming youthful population.
