(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Seong-jin = A pop star-turned opposition leader in his 40s who is fighting against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's 40-year-long rule.
Bobi Wine (44), better known by his stage name as a singer than his real name, Robert Kyagulanyi, was born in 1982 to a poor family in Nkozi, central Uganda, and grew up in the slums of Kampala, the capital.
I was so poor that I couldn't pay tuition, so I had to change schools several times during my elementary, middle, and high school years.
Bobi Wine emerged as a popular star in the early 2000s when he was loved as the ‘slum president’ for his music that dealt with poverty and social justice.
One of his stage names, Bobby, was taken from reggae star Bob Marley, an artist he admired. It is said that it contains the belief that wine will get better with age, just as wine gets better with age.
His songs not only deal with social criticism, such as domestic violence, but also politically sensitive topics, such as criticism of the government and struggles against injustice.
Bobi Wine gained fame not only domestically but also internationally.
In 2016, his song 'Kiwani' was included in the Disney movie 'Queen of Chess.'
In the same year, in Uganda's presidential election, Museveni succeeded in winning a second term amid criticism that the election was rigged.
Bobi Wine, who had already gained popularity at home and abroad as a singer, is said to have witnessed this and decided to devote himself to politics.
He, who sang reggae and Afro-pop, suddenly cut off his braided hair and changed his clothes to a sophisticated suit style to run for the National Assembly by-election in 2017.
As a result, he made a brilliant debut in politics, winning by a large margin against the ruling party candidate.
The young age, high popularity, and message of change became the basis for overwhelming support from young people who were dissatisfied with the situation at the time in Uganda, where about 80% of the population is under 30 years old.
Since then, Bobi Wine has emerged as a powerful opposition leader critical of President Museveni.
The year after his election, Bobi Wine founded a political group called the People Power Movement and began wearing a red beret as a symbol of resistance to the regime.
As red berets spread, the government felt a sense of crisis and decided to ban civilians from wearing red berets in 2019.
President Museveni is Africa's representative long-term leader who came to power through a coup in 1986 and is 81 years old.
After being elected as the first directly elected president in 1996, the Constitution was amended twice to remove term limits and the 75-year age limit for candidates. He has been in power for 40 consecutive years.
Bobi Wine, who serves as the leader of Uganda's main opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), faced President Museveni in two presidential elections in 2021 and this year. However, all were defeated amid allegations of election fraud.
Uganda's Electoral Commission announced that Bobi Wine won 34.8% of the vote in the 2021 presidential election, losing to Museveni (58.6%).
In the presidential election held in January of this year, Bobi Wine only received 24.7% of the vote, while Museveni received 71.7% and was elected to a seventh term.
Uganda has yet to experience a peaceful change of government since gaining independence from Britain in 1962.
After turning into a politician, Bobi Wine repeatedly suffered house arrest, arrest, detention, and torture.
In August 2018, Ugandan security forces killed his driver and Bobi Wine was also arrested and beaten.
At the time, as his detention became longer, more than 80 world-renowned cultural and artistic figures, including Nigeria's Nobel Prize winner in literature, Wole Soyinka, British rock band Coldplay's vocalist Chris Martin, and African Benin singer Angelique Kidjo, signed a petition calling for his release.
Also, in April last year, Edward Sebuupu, Bobi Wine's bodyguard, was kidnapped by Ugandan Army Commander-in-Chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, President Museveni's eldest son and likely successor. Commander Kainerugaba is known to have imprisoned and tortured Sebuupu, and even boasted about it on social media.
Commander Kainerugaba publicly threatened to “behead” Bobi Wine, but later explained that he was joking.
In the presidential election held in January of this year, presidential candidate Bobi Wine even went into hiding to avoid death threats from the military.
Bobi Wine felt his life was threatened after the election and fled to the United States.
People from other African countries who observed this year's presidential election pointed out that intimidation, arrests, and kidnappings targeting the opposition party and civil society were widespread.
Bobi Wine and his party claimed election fraud, saying there was rigging and intimidation in both presidential elections.
However, President Museveni will remain president for 45 years until his term ends in 2030.
