Listen to Eddy Kenzo criticise the Ugandan government

Presently one of the few Ugandan musicians that have dared to criticise the government by incorporating political activism into music, Kenzo sings Eno System Volongoto (This System is Messed Up).

More recently, Ugandans on social media have been expressing a cautious, pre-President Yoweri Museveni era optimism that the former heads of state were hardly the worst. The current regime has had a long history of acting subversively and in a concerted fashion, to undermine civil liberties and human rights by criminalising and prosecuting those in the opposition.

In 'System Volongoto', Kenzo paints a picture of a paralysed and fraudulent government. He says people in the ghetto are dying, kids have nothing to eat and the workers are not being paid.

The Ugandan police have also come under criticism for their heavy-handed response to a mostly peaceful opposition protest. For a while now, the Ugandan local media has aired their brutality, which is done with the excuse of maintenance of 'public order' when 'disobedience' appears.

From the response online, there is a likely hood that the opposition and protesters will adopt this song when they next match along the streets of Kampala.

Meanwhile, Ugandan musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, was on 2 May 2019 released on a 10 million Ugandan shillings bail after he pleaded not guilty to the charges of inciting violence and holding unlawful gatherings after he was arrested on 29 April.

The bail application hearing was conducted via video conferencing from Luzira prison by Baganda Road Court magistrate Esther Nahirya.

"If standing for what is right is going to hand me my freedom, I will thank God for it," Bobi Wine told the court. "If standing for what is right is going to keep me in this prison then I will thank God even louder. After all, I have a lot of work to do, even here in prison."

The pop start who has vowed to unseat Museveni, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, in the 2021 elections is expected back in court on 23 May 2019. In the meantime, he is not supposed to engage in any unlawful protests.