Ugandan Presidential Elections: Lessons from Bobi Wine

2021-01-22T08:00:39+00:00

By Publisher

Earlier this week, we spoke about President Yoweri Museveni and his hold on power for more than 35 years. The second part of his story and the yin to his yang, if you will, is none other than Bobi Wine.Mr. Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, ran against the political giant in his country this month for the position of the president. Bobi Wine seemed incredibly passionate about getting the country on track and doing what was best for her. Unfortunately, as you know already, he didn’t win. However, despite this loss, Bobi Wine is still a man whose actions are worthy of emulation in more ways than one. To help you understand what we mean, we’ve compiled a list of the top three things you can learn from Bobi Wine despite/because of his loss:

Your past doesn’t define you

Bobi Wine didn’t begin his life the richest person in Uganda or any part of the world, really. Before his music, it’s safe to say that this exceptional young man was fairly unknown. However, he gradually built himself. From his music to its promotion and everything else in between, Bobi Wine applied just the right amount of effort. In no time, he became one of Uganda’s celebrated artists and the Kyandodo East Member of Parliament Seat winner – a highly contested position.

No matter how big the challenge is, just try and give it your all

When Bobi Wine ran for president in Uganda, he was going up against a really tough opponent. However, you choose to see it, Yoweri Museveni had been in power for well over 30 years. Even before then, he had served as a leader in various areas. If he didn’t know how to do anything else, he knew how to win an election. All of these factors were obvious to Bobi Wine. Despite the challenges, he still gave it his all. Of course, he lost the election eventually, but we know that life isn’t exactly a fairytale with happy endings all the time. As a matter of fact, he was detained and placed under house arrest by the government. But, even with all of these challenges, he has continually stood strong, taking the bull by the horns at every turn. This, in itself, is admirable in more ways than one.

You win some, you lose some

This is perhaps one of the biggest things you’ll get to learn from following Bobi Wine’s journey through politics. His life has been in stages. One of the precursors to his popularity was his music. Even though he was largely interested in providing educational entertainment, a niche that’s generally not very popular, he still found his feet in the Ugandan music world. Apart from that, he scaled many mountains in the political world, too, winning a seat in a Ugandan parliament. In spite of all these wins, however, he still took a major loss in the form of losing the presidential elections to Yoweri Museveni. That, dear friends, is simply how life is. Sometimes, things go your way, and you win big. Other times, they don’t. But, no matter what happens, you must keep moving forward.