Bobi Wine: The People’s President Against All Odds and Regimes

History has proven if we don’t correct atrocities the first time, they are doomed to repeat.  Just here in America, we have seen our country go from a place of supposed liberty and justice for all to land I hardly recognize. Women and basic human rights are being challenged and some are attempting to rewrite history.  Imagine living in a country where you literally can be intimidated, beaten and jailed for opposing those in power?  Oh, that’s right, we already lived through that in the 60’s and continue to have it challenged today in America.  However, in Uganda, the struggle for equality and non-censorship has just only begun.

Born in the slums of Kampala, Bobi Wine, Ugandan opposition leader, former member of parliament, activist and national superstar musician, risks his life and the lives of his wife, Barbie, and their children to fight the ruthless regime led by Yoweri Museveni. Museveni has been in power since 1986 and changed Uganda’s constitution to enable him to run for yet another five-year term.

Running in the country’s 2021 presidential elections, Bobi Wine used his music to denounce the dictatorial regime and support his life mission of defending the oppressed an voiceless people of Uganda. While in the trenches of this fight, he must also take on the country’s police and military, who are ruthless in their use violence and torture in an attempt to intimidate and silence Bobi Wine and his supporters.  Why? All of this for monetary greed, control and rewriting a narrative sorely in need of updating into the 21st cen.

The most poignant moment of the film is watching this strong willed man and his wife having to send their children away for their own safety, be held hostage in their own compound while having no access to internet or phone.  It’s amazing what happens when politicians become afraid of being exposed for power abuses for the very same people who elected them in the first place.

Museveni’s regime literally jailed Bobi Wine, cut off access to the internet and mobile phone service on the day this documentary was released further solidifying their attempt to have a stronghold over the people of Uganda by any means necessary.

Directed by Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp, Bobi Wine: The People’s President not only documents a rising leader and struggles to rise above the political noise in Uganda, but focuses on a family and wife who maintain resolve and dignity amongst the most dire of circumstances.