Patronage, Repression, and Co-Optation: Bobi Wine and the Political Economy of Activist Musicians in Uganda

Abstract

In recent decades, musicians have figured prominently on Africa’s political stage. Popular Ugandan musician Bobi Wine moved beyond protest singer and ventured into politics by entering parliament in 2017 and challenging long-term President Yoweri Museveni at the presidential polls in 2021. To push for social change, Wine created the People Power movement and built an alliance with fellow musicians. This article studies Wine’s movement and his alliance with musicians by taking a political economy approach. I posit that the political activism of musicians reaches its limits when a sitting government can easily threaten the economic base of its oppositional challengers. Alliances become fragile once the government can demonstrate that challenging a ruling elite has severe consequences for one’s livelihood whereas aligning with the government ensures economic prosperity. The article uses ethnographic data, interviews, and newspaper articles to demonstrate this argument.

Popular Protest, Political Opportunities, and Change in Africa

“…Elected to parliament in 2017, he then formed the People Power movement in mid-2018 with a group of musicians to advocate for change. Later, the movement was transformed into a political party (the National Unity Platform) to challenge the long-term President Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 elections (Friesinger, 2021). Though Bobi Wine lost the election, he gained international visibility and continued to call protests against the regime.…”

COVID-19 and the Ugandan Presidential Election: Contesting Lockdown Authority in Popular Songs

“…Museveni’s government had begun its attacks on Wine and his allies well before the election year. From 2017, concerts Wine staged at his lakefront venue had been regularly shut down for alleged safety violations, and musicians known to be aligned with Wine were similarly harassed (Friesinger 2021). On August 13, 2018, police fired upon Wine’s car while he was touring the northern region of Arua with political allies, killing his driver.…”