At the end
of the interview with Bobi Wine, which he conducts from a hideout off-the-map
in Uganda, he does what brought him his initial fame: he sings. „One day,
everything is gonna be fine.“ His voice is shaky, his soft laughter sounds
bitter.
Bobi Wine,
one of the most popular musicians in East Africa and more recently one of the
most popular politicians in his own country, is wanted and has gone into
hiding. He is on the run from Uganda’s police and armed forces, whose
higher-ups have already threatened him on social media with diverse punishments
including beheading and castration.
Several
weeks ago, in January, Uganda’s strongman Yoweri Museveni secured a seventh
consecutive term in office. He claims that he garnered over 70 percent of the
vote while his foremost opponent, Bobi Wine, took just 25 percent. During the
campaign, Wine’s rallies were systematically disrupted, his supporters beaten,
and several were even killed. And, finally, the entire country’s internet was
shut down.
The night
after the vote, police and soldiers stormed the opposition leader’s house. He
managed to escape – and is now in hiding. Die Zeit tried again and again to
contact him. Too dangerous, his friends explained; an interview with
journalists might enable authorities to trace his location. Then, on the
evening of February 3, we finally talked to him by phone: one of the rare
occasions since his disappearance that Wine has dared to speak to the media.
DIE ZEIT: How are you?
Bobi Wine: I
am alive. And I want to stay
alive as long as possible.
ZEIT:
Apparently, soldiers are in your house. They’re searching for you.
Wine: I
haven’t broken any laws. Running for president is not a crime.
ZEIT: On X,
a general has threatened you with torture or death.
Wine:
I know—and I take that seriously.
For the time
being, Bobi Wine is on the run. Sought by Ugandan authorities, barely able to
communicate, invisible to his supporters: this is a low point in the life of a
man who tens of thousands celebrated during the campaign. Many young people in
Uganda – and throughout eastern Africa – had put their hopes in him.
Wine, 43
years old – his born name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu – grew up in a slum in
Kampala, the capital, and had his first hit songs at the age of 19: initially
about parties, fast cars, and pretty girls; then about corruption, rising
prices, and police violence. In 2017, his first stab at politics landed him in
parliament. His supporters still call him the „ghetto president.“ In 2021, he
dared to challenge Museveni for the presidency. Wine officially received 35
percent of the vote, but unofficially the figure was probably much higher.
More than
three quarters of Uganda’s approximately 50 million people are younger than 40.
They have never known a head of state other than Museveni. He came to power in 1986 as the leader of
a rebel movement. As one of
the African reformers of the 1980s, he was initially popular. Today, at 81, he
heads a political elite in which family members divvy up posts and privileges
between themselves. The top general, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is Museveni’s son and
likely his successor, too. Last year, Kainerugaba made headlines when he
publicly claimed that he was torturing Wine’s bodyguard and close friend in his
own basement after the man had been arrested.
ZEIT: A few
days ago, there were media reports that soldiers allegedly assaulted your wife
in your home. Do you know how she is doing?
Wine: I
don’t know. All I know is that she had to be taken to the hospital and is now
also in hiding.
Bobi Wine
had clashed with Kainerugaba before, in 2022. At the time, the president’s son
was celebrating Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine on X – in the name of
„the majority of humanity (which is not white).“
Wine
traveled to Kyiv and Bucha shortly thereafter to commemorate the victims of the
Russian massacre there. He explained to his fellow Ugandans that this war in
distant Europe was exactly the kind of colonial aggression that Africans had
suffered so often in their history.
ZEIT: You’ve
been to Europe many times and have been honored with human rights
commendations. Are European countries supporting you now?
Wine: It’s
hard to say. I have to be extremely careful and find it difficult to
communicate. But I’m very disappointed that there is almost no international
criticism of Museveni’s regime and these elections. My supporters and I do not
recognize the outcome. This election was stolen.