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Bobi is standing for presidency out of vanity!

By Abbey Semuwemba

Boom! Jose Chameleon will reportedly be standing for mayor of Kampala City while Bobi Wine will be standing for presidency in 2021. I have also seen several musicians and comedians that have expressed interest in joining politics, and I bet it's gonna be fun. I can only imagine how the next parliament is gonna look like. The truth is that most of the elites are in NRM and have been silenced because they are 'eating'. Actually, some are 'eating' So much such that they could anything to keep Museveni in power. So, people are now looking up to anybody who can change the system.

Our interest in musicians and other celebrities begins with our admiration of their talents. That should be the core of literary criticism around which every other consideration revolves. For example, I'm a fan of Bobi's music -- in fact, I like him so much, and I supported his endeavours to become an MP, but, I feel he's overstreching it by declaring his interest to stand for presidency in 2021. I strongly believe that excitement has got to him and he is, therefore, doing it out of vanity. In his interview with Patrick Kamara, he admitted that he promised his wife that she would be first lady one day, and I think that's vanity.

Yes, he has a right to stand for presidency but he is erroneously presupposing that he will win against Museveni due to youth support. It doesn't matter if Museveni is only voted for by his wife, his children and relatives, he will still be declared the winner of the elections. Voting for the opposition in big numbers has never overwhelmed any dictator as long as that dictator is still in control of the people that announce the final results. Voting in developing countries isn't like watching football on TV where everybody witnesses goals as they go in. So, an argument can be made behind the closed doors of how the dictator won. Haven't you seen Andrew Mwenda producing polls and percentages of how Museveni has been winning against Kiiza Besigye?

One thing for sure -- all celebrities that have joined politics have both followers and supporters. That's why i would urgently ask whoever will be standing against Chameleon, to work harder than before. Ugandans kind of distrust intellectuals and elites at the moment. Our people now prefer doers to talkers. Indeed, the notion of 'intellectual' is sickly because it arrogantly claims that one possesses an overarching truth over the rest. A man who has expert knowledge in the arts, history, science, etc is not necessarily an intellectual but a thinker or a scholar. An intellectual is someone who thinks of himself as a neo-brahmin. An intellectual divorces himself from the world, devises a grand theory, and then tells the rest of us what's good for us.

My message to fellow Ugandans is that we all love certain musicians/ celebrities but our reasoning , or choices, shouldn't be clouded by passion for music or whatever . Don't be afraid to speak up against a celebrity who isn't fit for political office -- in fear of being insulted, disgraced and black listed.The big deal here is the simple and observable fact that while people all over Uganda are in fact tolerant, intolerance grows while the tolerant lose arguments, for they are afraid of engaging a group hell bent on abusing anybody. We should develop university collegiality in which people are simply courteous to each other so that ideas may be exchanged. Byebyo ebyange!

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba writes from UNITED KINGDOM
