When we hear the name Bobi Wine, our minds are immediately drawn to label the man as a pop star turned political activist, bestowed with a hefty task – that of moving his country Uganda to a freer, democratic nation that serves its people. His wife, author, philanthropist, and human rights activist Barbara Kyagulanyi, affectionately known as Barbie, inspired him to take on the journey. She has walked alongside him every step of the way, as is evident in the National Geographic documentary Bobi Wine: The People’s President.
The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, is a modest two-hour look into the violent discord between the country’s leaders in a race to loot it for all its worth, leaving the Ugandan people at its center, struggling to survive. The documentary shows the political and personal turmoil the couple and their four children have faced over the last five years, and how inevitably resilient one must become when attempting to dismantle oppressive forces.
Wine, born Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu in northeastern Kampala, is a former member of Uganda’s parliament, and the current leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) and the People Power Movement. He grew wildly popular in the 2000s by making socially conscious music that was hard to stop your feet from moving along to. His music career spans decades, and his spin on the East African nation’s traditional Kidandali sound rang popular among the locals that Wine aimed to galvanize.
In 2017, armed with the encouragement of his unshakeable life partner, Wine’s politically charged lyrics turned into actions that landed him a seat in the country’s parliamentary building. Two years later, he announced his run for the presidency. His participation in Uganda’s 2021 presidential election has brought him under the radar of the country’s current ruler, Yoweri Museveni – who is close to marking four decades on the job. A series of tortures, arrests, and periods of house arrest have followed, and Wine grows more steadfast in his mission over the years.
Beyond the labels assigned to him, and his wife, are two people attempting to live each day as best they can, and add value to tomorrow. They are not experts at avoiding conflict or abuse but have been forced into roles that demand levels of durability that are virtually inhumane. 2023 alone brought a host of experiences that would inspire even the bravest soldiers to rethink their fight, and yet, here they stand – together. Each encounter brings new knowledge, understanding, and valuable insight into surviving their next phase of freedom fighting.
The couple shared with OkayAfrica, over Zoom, from London, which they visited for the first time in nine years, the lessons 2023 brought with it.
The interview below has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
On family
Barbie Kyagulanyi: Personally, I learned that family is the most important unit of anybody's life. Especially close family – like your parents and in our case, our children. They are the most important part of our lives. That's what I learned.
Bobi Wine: I've learned that family is the greatest source of strength and confidence and that even the weakest member of the family can be the biggest source of strength.
On African people
Kyagulanyi: Politically, looking at how young people are actively involving themselves in the politics of their countries is very encouraging. This year, I learned that the youth are not just on social media and in bars wasting their lives. They're taking up the duty of securing their future by involving themselves in the decision-making process of the main things that affect their lives, and that's the politics of their countries.
Wine: I've learned that Africans actually are not weak or backward, but they are being held behind by forces that use their own leaders. Africans are not the problem. The problem is their leaders. Africans are not third-world people, they’re first-world brains stuck in the third world because they have third-world leaders that they must free [themselves] from.
On African leaders
Wine:It depends, Africa has so many wonderful leaders. It is Africa where Nelson Mandela and Thomas Sankara came from. It is Africa that has given us Hakainde Hichilema, and so many more. But yes, Africa has also given us Idi Amin and Yoweri Museveni. So, it is the bad leaders that have misrepresented Africa and given us a bad name. And indeed, it is the good leaders and the good people that must stop the bad image of Africa.
On the relationship Africans have with the rest of the world
Kyagulanyi: I think we're integrated now. We have been to documentary festivals where we've met very good African documentary producers coming from Kenya, Zambia, and beyond. So in the documentary world, we have a share of the platform on the international stage. May not be enough, but we are beginning to have a share of it.
Wine: I’ll say that there's so much that is not known. In fact, very little is known about Africa and that's deliberate. There has been a consistent, sustained misrepresentation of Africa, to the detriment of Africans. However, we are glad [to be] living in the age of technology, and with the opportunities that we keep getting like this opportunity with Nat Geo, we and many other young people in Africa will transform the representation of Africa, and the right image will be created of Africa.
On Africa’s future
Wine: Africa's only problem is leadership. It is not the weather, it is not the people – It is leadership. We have the best opportunities, the youngest population, and entrepreneurial, smart people. We are enormously blessed with resources. Africa alone can feed the world, it’s a source of wealth for the world. If that wealth is helping the world, why not Africa? We have everything we need to transform ourselves into a first world, to change the lives of every African – if we have the right leadership. When we fix our leadership, everything will be fixed.
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National Geographic’s Bobi Wine: The People’s President is available for streaming on YouTube. Watch the trailer by following the link below:
- 'I’m Proud to Be Persecuted For the Truth:' Bobi Wine on the Fight for Freedom in Uganda ›
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