While perusing the internet recently, I bumped into an intriguing topic which I took keen interest to understand. The types of leadership power. I was intrigued mostly by one called Moral Power.
That a leader’s good qualities can lead to them having moral power over those they lead because the latter may be inspired to replicate the leader’s actions.
After internalizing this statement, it fast brought me to look into the viability and moral integrity of the upcoming pressure group People Power novice leader Hon Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine and what moral yardstick he can point at for those who believe in him to emulate.
Fast forward, Hon Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, made this name over the last one or so decades through what he claims was an edutainment music career. The career flourished and enabled him to become a household musical name because of the abundant freedom space and the peaceful competitive atmosphere ushered in by President Museveni’s NRM Government.
It is also common knowledge that music and arts have in no other regime, apart from the NRM regime, developed and in fact, contributed to the national tax base.
What we cannot ignore however, is that Bobi Wine, over the years as an artiste, of the wealth he has amassed both at home and across the borders, is unexplainable.
Bobi Wine infringed on the basic human rights of others to achieve most of his wealth. With dirty amd blood stained hands, he accumulated the wealth under the guise of music, didn’t care whether he trampled on others or not as long as he got what he wanted.
Over the last few weeks, the media has been awash with a confession by one of his former close confidants, about how he run a business empire at his One Love Beach Busabala, where him and his gang allegedly raped women , sodomised men, abused all kinds of narcotics within the confines of what he had branded as ‘The War Bus’.
He allowed the fame he acquired through public cheers at music shows home and abroad to ride to his head and like anyone who abuses drugs, his sense of discernment had eroded.
His wife Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi aka Barbie who is the manager of all his businesses, with One Love Beach in Busabala at their helm, couldn’t survive being caught in the web. Like an old adage, ”Show me your associates—”, Barbie failed to exonerate her sorry self from her husband’s misdoings that included such gross violation of human rights such as murder and ignoring the fact that the law would soon catch up with them.
Barbie herself is accused of poisoning a one Maureen who worked as a cashier at their beach. Having got misunderstandings with her over having an affair with her husband, Barbie hired one of the workers who was close to Maureen to finish her off. She is said to have later succumbed to an unknown ailment shortly after.
Barbie being a holy Mary of some sort, going by her social media handles, this accusation against her will put her to test as the world is waiting to see how she pleads once she is taken to Court.
Bobi Wine, her husband, on the other hand, has been fooled by the pressure and funding he gets from international gay groups after qualifying as their best candidate who would sell their interests. Latest allegations in the media that Bobi Wine and his cronies sodomised one another at the climax of narcotic intoxication clearly confirms this.
That he can become Uganda’s next president with not only a tainted image of his past, but also with naive and amateur ideologies, is another task for which he will have to appraise him self first.
The cheers he has received from his funder gay groups has made him myopic to think that Ugandans can actually trust a naive person without any grain of leadership skills, be it serving in any office as low as being a village council leader.
With such blankness he exhibits when asked to contextualize policy issues, his dream of leading Ugandans can only remain illusional because Uganda, moreover after her 57th independence anniversary surely deserves better.
Ugandans want a leader but not one who spent most of his hey days fighting in clubs over women and supremacy, abusing drugs, raping women, amassing illicit wealth by the barrel of the gun as it has come out that him and his gang killed innocent revellers at his Busabala beach at the height of drug and alcohol intoxication.
Clearly, he exudes no pinch of moral authority to lecture Ugandans on human rights, respect of rule of law when he him self broke the same law not once not twice but used his money to get over it.
Bobi Wine often came out publicly on how he is a re known drug lord. He became popular under this tag and all other bad things that comes with it. No wonder this caused him to commit atrocities by grossly butchering people, oblivious that one day the truth would come out.
Going by the trending confession, Bobi Wine amassed his wealth through mischief against his rival music giants and illicit trade of narcotics. He would then buy off police officers to ‘kill’ the cases of murder, rape and sodomy that would be reported against him.
Realistically, from what angle would be the basis of his choreographed melodramatic speeches to unsuspecting Ugandans?
At the helm of his dramatic music career, Bobi Wine showcased all mannerism of a poorly bred young ghetto boy as he chose to use vulgarity and profanity as his seller brand, hurling insults at fellow artistes, fighting in night clubs, composing obscene and vulgar lyrics that targeted fellow artistes in the music industry.
Words such as ‘bbi’ (Luganda for human waste) and ‘mbwa’ which translates to a fool in ghetto lingua, became Bobi Wine’s common lyrical language. He without remorse would address his rivals as such in the name of fighting for musical supremacy.
He profanely attacked people’s spouses, families, leaders and all that would have a different opinion on issues than his.
On January 4, 2019, on the sidelines of the Eddy Kenzo 10-year Concert at Serena Hotel which was graced by both artistes Bebe Cool aka Moses Ssali and Bobi Wine, journalists asked Bebe Cool about a possible reconciliation with Bobi Wine whose (Bebe Cool’s) family he often insulted in his songs. Bebe Cool said that would happen only if Bobi Wine publicly apologised to him for insulting him and his family in his songs.
Profanity and hurling insults through lyrics was a strategy Bobi Wine employed to make his songs sell over the years. He often shielded his not so good songs with attack messages because of the insecurity he felt due to the competition he was given by his music rivals who were doing better than him.
Bobi Wine is the perfect example of history coming back to haunt. With such documented information pinning him against what he claims to stand for, the political animal in Kyagulanyi will have a lot of explaining to give to Ugandans.
Better for him to start gathering counter evidence to present to Court when the quest for justice by the families whose people he killed begins.
