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Could Bobi Wine comment on gays come back to haunt him in 2026?
Former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine (right), during a meeting with the EU delegation led by Mr Attilio Pacifici at Magere, Wakiso District in 2021 PHOTOS/ FILE
What you need to know:
- With Western countries, led by the US sanctioning Uganda for enacting the Anti-Homosexuality Act, President Museveni has cast himself as a pan-Africanist who is defending African values while his rival, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, seems to have toned down his earlier anti-gay statements. Derrick Kiyonga writes that homosexuality could be a key voting issue in the 2026 General Election.
In the aftermath of the November 2020 protests that saw more than 50 people killed by security operatives, President Museveni, who was on the campaign trail in Karamoja sub-region, blamed everything on Western homosexual groups.
The protests were triggered after Museveni’s main rival in the elections, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, who was campaigning in the eastern district of Luuka was arrested, but Museveni was quick to blame it on LGBT (lesbian, gay, and bisexual, and transgender) movements.
“Some of these groups are being used by outsiders; the homosexuals; the homosexuals and other groups outside there who don’t like the stability and independence of Uganda,” Museveni said.
In the final leg of the 2021 presidential campaigns, Museveni—who would go on to get a sixth term in power that he clinched in 1986— directly accused Kyagulanyi of being a puppet of Western elements.
Without citing names, Museveni claimed Kyagulanyi wanted to promote homosexuality in Uganda.
“He gets quite a lot of encouragement from foreigners and homosexuals,” the President said on the campaign trail, adding, “Homosexuals are very happy with Bobi Wine. I think they even sent him support.”
It is two years to the next presidential elections in which Museveni is expected to once again face off with Kyagulanyi, but the debate around homosexuality has taken centre stage after the latter said in a BBC interview last week that he is accommodative of homosexuality.
“Certainly, we grow and transform. I have always mentioned that I’m a product of many second chances,” Kyagulanyi told the BBC after being asked why the authorities in the UK had finally permitted him to enter the island.
A ban was instituted against him in 2014 on account of outing a song that was purportedly littered with homophobic lyrics.
“I want to be known as a leader who is respectful and inclusive for everybody,” Kyagulanyi added.
In 2007, a Pew Research Centre survey on attitudes found that 96 percent of Ugandans saw homosexuality as insufferable. The study also found that political leaders have tapped into what they term as “populist” homophobia to keep themselves in power. An anti-gay stance, the study noted, usually translates into a win of the ballot.
With the former Kyadondo East Member of Parliament (MP) implying that he is accommodative of homosexuality, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has been quick to tap into Kyagulanyi’s toning down of his earlier position, saying they have been right all along.
“Not that we were shocked, but from the [BBC] interview, it crystalised that he is pro-gay because of funding. While he knows that almost all Ugandans are opposed to homosexuality, he stands with the insignificant few because he has a choice to make,” Hudu Hussein, the Masaka Resident City Commissioner, said.
“He has funders who wouldn’t fund his political activities unless he bows before the rainbow movement, and he has the people of Uganda. Bobi Wine chooses the funders; he chooses the millions of dollars over people’s interests,” Hudu added.
Despite Western pressure that has come with economic and travel sanctions, government has insisted it has no regrets of supporting the Anti-Homosexuality Act.
“As government and as Ugandans, we should remain firm. We may be poor but we are not desperate that you just dangle some resources and then we abandon our values,” Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the minister for ICT and National Guidance, said after the US government slapped visa restrictions on government officials that implemented the Anti-Homosexuality Act that has been described by the West as a violation of human rights.
With NRM looking to gain politically from Kyagulanyi’s current position on homosexuality, MPs from the musician-turned-politician’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party have found themselves caught between a rock and hard place since they supported the Act which was authored by Bugiri Municipality MP Asuman Basalirwa.
Though all NUP MPs supported the Act, they seem not to want to contradict Kyagulanyi’s latest position on homosexuality.
“Please wait for the president to have a press conference and ask him to explain what he meant, probably. It would be a good opportunity for you and the nation to know what exactly he meant. I don’t know what he meant,” Mr Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, said.
“As an understanding person, I can never support homosexuality nor does my president Kyagulanyi,” Baale County MP Charles Tebandeke said, adding, “Kyagulanyi is my president, and he has been on sanctions for the last 10 years because of being against homosexuality. He is a family man who wouldn’t be defined as supporting homosexuality.”
In 2014, long before he joined politics, Kyagulanyi was denied a visa to travel to the UK where he was slated to have a music show.
At the time, gay rights activists accused Kyagulanyi of fanning homophobic attacks in his song Burn Dem, an act they claimed contravened the United Kingdom’s Criminal Justice and Immigration Act. The legislation forbids inciting hatred on grounds of sexual orientation. The debacle forced Kyagulanyi to issue a statement in which he tried to strike a faint balance between his home base and international ambitions.
“Uganda is a democratic country and I do not make the laws. However, it’s my duty as a law-abiding citizen to adhere to the law as required of me by the Constitution,” Kyagulanyi said in 2014 adding, “It’s a misinterpretation to say that Uganda wants to kill homosexuals because the biggest section for the offenders (aggravated homosexuality with a minor where the offender is HIV positive) is life imprisonment and not death.”
President Museveni
He proceeded to conclude thus: “… I am personally not out to threaten the life of any individual based on their sexual orientation. I just do not agree with them. This is my opinion and happens to be that of 99 percent Ugandans/Africans based on our culture, religion and Constitution.”
Upon joining politics, Kyagulanyi never wanted to commit himself to the topic. Even during the last elections, his position seemed to be vague, saying homosexuality was a trivial issue.
“I’m married to a woman you all know. It is a shame, it is disrespectful, and I feel insulted to be involved in the sex talk when we have few hours to elections,” Mr Kyagulanyi said. “Driving me to such talk is diversionary. I would rather use the time to talk about our plans for the people of this country.”
With Museveni talking tough against homosexuality, Kyagulanyi was given a chance to give his views in March, but still he insisted the debate was being triggered to distract the country from the President’s alleged poor leadership.
“The sad part is that Museveni uses this topic as a political tool whenever he has no answers regarding his bad leadership. Whenever he has no answers on the very many bad things happening and the scandals, he plays the homosexuality card to divert the populace because he is aware where Ugandans stand regarding homosexuality,” Kyagulanyi said.
In the aftermath of Uganda passing the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the World Bank reacted by halting new loans for Uganda’s development projects, but Kyagulanyi blamed the global lender for being selective.
“While I was abroad, many of you received the news that the World Bank had suspended loans to Uganda. We welcomed that. However, I was unhappy that they are only holding back loans over the anti-gay law,” Kyagulanyi said in August.
“While we welcome sanctions against Museveni, we call up the hypocrisy of the international community. We want them to know that our lives matter as well, that the lives of the hundreds of people who are being killed matter as well. They should not look at gay rights as the only rights in Uganda,” Kyagulanyi added.
In appearing to be accommodative of homosexuality, Kyagulanyi also opened a can of worms when he claimed that the law which was supported sponsored by Basalirwa, a member of the Opposition, would be used by Museveni’s government against the very Opposition that supported it in big numbers.
“This law was not introduced by Museveni in the interest of the Ugandan people; rather, it was designed to target the Opposition, including myself. He knows it can be used to crack down on anyone perceived to be supportive of that community. This means that anything I say about the law not only puts me at risk but also endangers my loved ones. I must be very cautious, as I am aware that its primary purpose is to target the Opposition, especially me,” Kyagulanyi said.
Basalirwa, who after years of trying and failing, became an MP in 2018 after Kyagulanyi backed him, was quick to respond: “The party president alleges that the Act was introduced to suppress the Opposition, yet NUP members were among those who supported it. Does this mean that there was a disagreement between the party president and his MPs on this matter?”
If some NUP MPs have avoided directly clashing with Kyagulanyi over the issue, Abed Bwanika, the Kimaanya-Kabonera MP, took a different direction.
“Even if the position can be arrived tonight and it’s in favour of homosexuality, I will defy it publicly and give a reason. I’m more than ready to take on anybody who imposes homosexuality views on me,” Bwanika said.
“That will be regardless of who the person is: whether it’s my party president or someone else. I can’t support homosexuality even if it means missing out on money from Americans and Europeans.”
Prof Solomon Asiimwe, a lecture of International Relations at Nkumba University, says: “Ugandan is a cultural country. If a person comes out to say he supports gays he would lose the election in any part of the country.”
But he is quick to add that: “Bobi Wine found himself between a rock and hard place. He wants something from the Europeans and he told them what they want to hear, though he doesn’t believe in it.”
