OPINION: How Bobi Wine is Mastering the Political Chess Game Ahead of 2021

Presidential candidate Kyagulanyi Sentamu Robert is living up to his task of giving the incumbent, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni a run for his money. This time literary.

Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine was on November 14th canvassing votes in Orungo county, Amuria district in Eastern Uganda. To reach the venue where he was assigned to carry out his campaign procession that day, the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate had to run there instead of using his vehicle. 

He posted this picture on his social media captioned “Amuria, We shall be with you shortly with a message of FREEDOM.”

Bobi, said that the venue was about 15km away from the town and seeing that his supporters were running to meet him there, he opted to join them and run along with them.

“We were unable to address our supporters in Amuria town because the venue we got is like 15km away. Many of the supporters decided to run there and I could not look on. I had to join them and we run to the venue, after all I am physically fit.” said Kyagulanyi.

This is just one of the loud gestures that the NUP candidate has cultivated during his campaigns. 

Days before that, Kyagulanyi had been spotted offering drinking water to his security team as he moved from Apac to Lira City; the same team he had criticized earlier for looking on as he was being tortured by police after his nomination.

Bobi captioned this; “the security are not our enemies, we know who our enemies are,” a message that further reinforced his now cliché narrative of the lowest ranking officer earning 1 million once he is elected president.

Politics is a game, and Bobi Wine sure knows how to pass the ball. Kyagulanyi knows well that people love his populist political ideals, but he also understands that the famous ‘ghetto’ side of him is paramount to his success even as a politician.

For most, reconciling the two sides would be a nightmare, but not for Bobi Wine. Do not mistake these gestures for random occurrences happening arbitrarily.

From singing at his manifesto launch, to running in the rain, to washing his face with roadside stream-water, Bobi Wine has mastered the art of blending his ‘suit-and-tie’ political side with the ghetto person that originally made him.

People love this, people love people like him. And by people like him, I mean ‘good people with dark sides’, because they are easy to relate to. 

Finding the right way to hang the dirty linen in his closet outside for the world to see, Bobi has allowed for people to love him for just who he is. That, alongside his populist political sermons explains people’s genuine support for him.

Whether these gestures are fake or real is not the real question, the real question is; how impactful are they to the political climate, especially now during campaigns? If you have been following the news, then the answer to this question should come off easy.

Will these political gestures win him the election come January 2021? I cannot answer that, but I can promise you that we will be seeing more of them as the campaign season ferries on. Love or hate him, Bobi Wine is no longer playing checkers, he is rising steadily to the task of playing chess.