Bobi Wine’s weekend shows cancelled

Bobi Wine has had three of his shows cancelled this month with the first one scheduled to have taken place in Kasese on 7 October. He was expected to stage shows in Kamulu and Mukono this Friday and Saturday respectively.

According to a local Ugandan publication, Juma Balunywa, the promoter of the two events, received a notice on Tuesday from Frank Mwesigwa, the Kampala Metropolitan Police commander, stating that the shows will not take place.

“Unfortunately we are not granting permission for the show because during the previous show at One Love Beach at Busabala, he uttered words that were inciteful to the public. He is now under investigations,” the notice reads.

The notice comes after Mwesigwa released a public statement on the same day accusing the singer of defying the police’s instructions to not turn the music show into a political rally.

“We want him to know that there is a difference between Bobi Wine and Hon Robert Kyagulanyi,” Mwesigwa said. “We have noticed that Bobi Wine has been turning into Hon Kyagulanyi to make political statements at music shows that is not what we agreed on.”

Following the cancellation of his shows and continuous harassment from the police, Bobi Wine told Music In Africa that he would file a case today against Uganda’s attorney-general and the police, accusing them of human rights infringement. He said apart from his shows being banned, media houses had been instructed not to play his music.

“I have received information from various TV and radio station letting me know that they have orders to stop playing my music,” he said.

The singer said he ought to have been arrested if he had committed a crime. Since this did not happen, he sees himself as a victim of political persecution by the Ugandan government. “The police is no longer an independent body but rather it is being controlled by the regime. They have no right to cancel my shows because I am protected by the Ugandan Constitution, which allows me the freedom of expression and speech,” he said.

Bobi Wine is convinced that his affiliation to the official opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), is the reason for the cancellation of the concerts. 

“It is ridiculous to use my music as an excuse to try and intimidate me. History has shown us different musicians who have used music to express themselves. They say my music is too political yet there are some Ugandan artists who are doing their music freely despite having publicly shown support for the ruling party in many ways including composing songs for them.”

Bobi Wine said the songs that were now said to be inciting people were recorded before he joined politics. He said he had performed the same songs at various police functions.

Asked whether he was planning to take a break from music, Bobi Wine said: “I will keep recording music and use social media, the most powerful tool which the police and the government have no control over. They can stop me from performing at shows but they cannot stop my music from reaching the people.”

On 4 October a local publication reported that the president of the Federation of Performing Artists of Uganda (FPAU), Andrew Benon Kibuuka, issued a statement that seemed to be directed to Bobi Wine and similar artists. Kibuuka warned the artists to exercise caution when making comments about the controversial Age Limit Amendment Bill.

On 27 September, the Ugandan Parliament introduced the bill to scrap the presidential age limit, which met widespread opposition for various organisations including opposition parties. Under the existing law, a person standing for president must be under 75 years of age, which would make long-time leader Yoweri Museveni, who took power in 1986, illegible to participate in the 2021 presidential elections.  

“Fellow artists in your respective domains, I implore you to act and behave rationally, particularly during this period," the Kibuuka statement said. "While expressing your opinion on the matter, inflammatory statements cannot help achieve our objective of shaping society, it will only cause more problems for our dear Uganda."