Oscars 2024: The nominee that has given a “lease of life” to Ugandan politics
Local celebrities running for political office have thrown up the good, the bad, and the ugly in its various guises, but one of the more unheralded public figures to take a tilt at roaming the corridors of power has ended up with achieving the unique double-header of securing an Academy Award nomination and making a pronounced impact on Ugandan politics.
Born Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, singer and actor Bobi Wine segued from film, television, and music into politics, ultimately announcing his candidacy for the 2021 presidential election as the leader of the National Unity Platform party. However, allegations of corruption thwarted his bid to attain the highest office in the land.
The incumbent, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, ended up being named victorious amidst many claims of voter fraud, which subsequently saw Wine placed under house arrest by the government in December 2021. He was permitted to leave Uganda and travel internationally, where the documentary bearing his name was gaining attention, only to be arrested alongside his wife Barbie and their children when he returned in October 2023.
Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo’s Bobi Wine: The People’s President made the Oscars shortlist in the ‘Best Documentary Feature’ category, but as the latter filmmaker told The Guardian, it was a bittersweet moment. “The morning the Oscars nomination was announced, Bobi and Barbie and their children had been under house arrest for over a week,” he explained. “But when the news came, the military and the police withdrew from their home.”
The increased media attention generated by the Oscar-nominated documentary may not be able to single-handedly solve the political issues that plague Uganda all on its lonesome, but as Wine surmised, it’s played an important role in increasing the belief that things could be about to change to at least some extent.
“This film has given us another lease of life, because now we know that – as much as it’s brutal – the regime knows that the world is watching,” he said. “The first day I become president is the day Uganda ceases to be an authoritarian military regime. Education, healthcare and agriculture would be our priorities.”
Museveni has been in charge since 1986, with the parliament he oversees removing an age limit on those who can either run for or hold the office of president, which theoretically means his reign can continue indefinitely. Buoyed by the success of the documentary bearing his name and the backing of his supporters, Wine refuses to go down without a fight.
“I believe it is the most watched and sought-after film in Uganda in recent years,” he added, with the Oscars buzz and government oversight of the media doing little to stem the momentum, which he credited to the way social media “taps into foreign news and brings it home and makes it mainstream news.” There’s still a long way to go, but real change could be coming to Uganda’s political system.
