Musicians should not be fooled by politics – Ugandan promoter

Speaking during a recent interview with a local television network, Suudiman advised local musicians intending to join politics to think hard. “Artists who think they can achieve exactly that which Bobi Wine has achieved are daydreaming – Bobi Wine is on another level,” Suudiman said. “Actually, those musicians should stick to music and make money instead of getting campaign loans which will put them behind bars after losing the elections.”

Suudiman said Bobi Wine had demonstrated leadership skills and that his decision to join politics was a well-calculated move that took years of planning. “Bobi Wine didn’t just wake up and dream of becoming a politician. He started way back with his music, which had messages carrying his political aspirations, so I urge other musicians not to be swayed by his win to determine their fate”.

East Africa has seen two musicians join their respective national assemblies, the first being Bobi Wine (real name Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) who clinched the Kyaddondo East parliamentary seat at last month’s by-elections. The other is Charles Njagua, known by his stage name Jaguar, who was last week declared an MP of Nairobi's Starehe constituency in the recently concluded Kenyan general elections.

Soon after Bobi Wine’s victory, a number of musicians have come out to reveal their intentions to contest their respective constituencies during the 2021 elections. One such artists is Navio (real name Daniel Lubwama Kigozi) who shared a photograph posing with Bobi Wine captioned “MCs to MPs. RUBAGA 2021”. Navio hails from Rubaga, which is one of the divisions that make up Uganda’s capital Kampala.