LOS ANGELES – Security comes with an Oscar nomination.
Or so Bobi Wine and his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi discovered when “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” was nominated for Best Documentary in this year’s Academy Awards race.
As a result of the attention, “we have a bit of protection,” Kyagulanyi says. “There is some shame to the government because they know the world is watching.”
A former member of the Ugandan Parliament and a superstar musician, Wine ran against the dictatorial regime in the 2021 presidential election. He had a groundswell of support but the party in power repeatedly arrested him during the campaign. On Jan. 16, the electoral commission announced that Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the incumbent, had won with more than 58 percent of the vote. Wine refused to accept the results and said the election was the most fraudulent in Uganda’s history.
People are also reading…
“The Ugandan dictatorship has been in power for 38 years,” says Moses Bwayo, director of the documentary. “Before that, there was about 24 years of coups. Uganda has never had a smooth transition to power. It has never had a democratic system in place. The people of Uganda, led by Bobi Wine, continue to fight for this and the repression continues back in Uganda. This is a current story. It has not stopped.”
Music, Wine says, introduced him to the nation. “That endeared me to the people,” he adds. “Initially, my music was about the girls and the party and the beer. At the height of my success, I had a situation where I was attacked and beaten by security. I was not safe and that’s when my music changed to address the social issues and injustices.”
That prompted others to view him as a spokesperson for the underprivileged. “When I ran for office, I was already popular – not a popular artist, but a popular public spokesperson. The regime back home (thought) it was just the music. They banned my music and paid other popular artists to come and contradict the message that I give, but it did not work.”
Unofficially, Wine’s music has been banned in Uganda; the venue he bought has been blocked. “So many people are in prison for being found playing my music publicly because it’s seen as dangerous to the minds of society.”
Still, Wine continues to record and uses social media to spread the word. “I perform, only not in Uganda.”
To chronicle his political journey, Bwayo spent six years following him.
“He was enemy No. 1 of the state, and it was very dangerous covering this story,” Bwayo says. “I was shot in the face at close range. I was arrested, locked up in prison, interrogated. Just before we released the film, my wife and I had to flee the country. We live here and we’re seeking political asylum.”
Before word spread about the documentary, the participants had to worry about abduction.
“These days,” Kyagulanyi says, “Ƶ wait for the dark. They make sure there is no camera record around. They use more tactics.”
The Wines have been allowed to leave the country, “even when they know we are coming (to the United States) to cause more damage,” Kyagulanyi says. “I know they’re waiting for when the lights and cameras stop so they can resume the shameless and more intense crackdown on us.”
A week before the Oscar nominations, the couple were under house arrest. “On the very day at the film came out, the military withdrew from our home,” Wine says. Museveni invited a director to make a documentary about the beauty of Uganda. “They’re not sharing (information) about the schools and hospitals but there has been more safety for us and more effort to cleanse the image. It is thanks to this film that the mask was pulled off.”
Wine laughs at the idea he and his wife are campaigning for the Oscar.
“For us, it’s a campaign for life,” he says. “For us, this is a lifeline. Every opportunity we get to show the situation in Uganda, we are extending our lease on life. The more Americans see this film, the more Europeans see this film, the more attention will be drawn to our home. Our greatest achievement is to make sure that we achieve conditions put on the $1 billion U.S. dollars that are given to General Museveni by the U.S. every year. If the U.S. doesn’t facilitate General Museveni’s rule anymore, it will be the end of the story for him.”
“Bobi Wine: The People’s President” is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. The Academy Awards air March 10 on ABC.