After convincingly establishing that the presidential directives on Coronavirus would eat up all the political space for his mobilization for the forthcoming general elections, Bobi Wine, who is always never prepared to lose anything or any moment when it comes to his Presidential ambition, moved swiftly back to the drawing board and resolved to use the period to root for foreign glory as it is equally needed if at all he is to effect change in Uganda according to him.
With all eyes fixed on the Coronavirus problem locally, the smart youthful presidential hopeful saw an opportunity else where when the black population in China lamented in protest against the inhuman treatment which the host government was subjecting them to. China had been accused of segregating against the blacks with many allegedly forced onto the streets and denied access to public utility points such as restaurants and shopping centers while many were being forced to be vaccinated against will.
With the incident affecting the entire continent and beyond, Bobi Wine intelligently saw an opportunity of turning himself into a continental hero. He immediately expressed concern and appealed to the world to take an interest in the plight of the under threat black population in China. He went further and announced to have made arrangements with some continental Heads of state over a possible evacuation of the victims and asked the Ugandan authorities to grant them landing rights.
By so doing, he had scored. And handsomely scored a distinction for it. Whether or not he genuinely intended to fly all the victims doesn’t deserve any discussion. What is questionable is his choice of Uganda for the landing of the evacuees even when he knew very well he wouldn’t be let do it because: one, the government had already closed the airport to both in and out bound flights and so, the chartered plane that Hon Kyagulanyi had talked of would not land anywhere and he too was very aware of it as a fact. Secondly, the current pandemic had forced to government to look at all foreign human arrivals with tight scrutiny since all the first cases of the disease had been imported. This makes it a certainty that a plane with thousands of occupants on board coming from moreover China wasn’t going to be accepted in. As such he advanced the idea to tickle Museveni while very well aware he wasn’t going to have his way.
Either way however, he was sure that victory was his. He had cornered Museveni between a hard surface and a rock. If he didn’t act, Bobi wine would appear as the solution and win a diplomatic contest among the black continent, while acting was bound to cause more conflicts especially in light to the COVID19 containment efforts.
Left with no option, the government began with a hasty registration of it’s Nationals across the globe with a promise that they were to be repatriated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also reacted by telling Bobi Wine off the issue of foreign diplomacy as they were a reserve of the President and/or the Minister of foreign affairs.
By this declaration, the Ugandans authorities had eaten Bobi Wine’s bait. They had exonerated him should there be no any evacuations as it was unlikely though. He had been stopped. With one stone, he had hit two birds both domestically and globally. Ugandans will always remember that he tried his best until his efforts were frustrated by an indifferent government while Internationally,he had proved that to him, an issue that affects an African, regardless of where they are from, should be an issue for the entire black world. He had used the opportunity to position himself as an international answer finder, while managing his home government to look clueless.
By the time they realised that the cunning man from Magere had played them and announced again against their earlier intentions of returning the Nationals stranded abroad, a cost to high for the government itself, Bobi Wine was through with his game already and had moved to the next one!
After banning his political participation locally, all the authorities forgot to do was ban Bobi Wine from singing because each time the pop star storms the studio to do what he understands most, – singing, trouble erupts for the government he is working so hard to bring down. Just as anticipated, Bobi Wine’s gospel against Coronavirus through his Music was well calculated to suit both local and international audience. This explains why, unlike majority of his music which is predominantly in Luganda, this particular one was a mixture of Luganda and English, with all Luganda lyrics also translated to English, meaning it was intended for an international message. And indeed, it worked like magic. With over a million views, an international collaboration featuring The continent’s legendary artistes and Heads of State and international airplays it wasn’t an easy feat.
Played all over the world, Kyagulanyi could not have had any better opportunity to feel luckier than during the COVID19 crisis. He has received applaud from various leaders, with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame allegedly offering a mega cash prize for whoever would be able to translate the song to Kinyarwanda.
The worst news anybody from the inner circle of the Country’s reigning regime would wish to know if is the fact that the singer has scooped an international recognition for his participation in the fight against the pandemic on the black man’s continent.
CNN, through its affiliated channel CNN Africa fronted Bobi Wine and other famous names and tagged them ‘Heroes’ and ‘Newsmakers’, to the disappointment of the Government. According to Don Wanyama – the Presidential press Secretary, there wasn’t enough research done locally before arriving at the young politician’s name.
“We are excited to introduce CNN Covid heroes and newsmakers, a social media series where we will be speaking to Africans on the frontline and key players driving strategy as the continent faces #COVID19,” CNNAfrica tweeted on Wednesday with a poster of Bobi Wine alongside other influential Africans, that’s, Timie Giwa-Tubosun (founder of Lifebank), Niyi Akinmolayan (Nigerian film-maker, director and media consultant), Wawira Njiru (Kenyan entrepreneur, human nutritionist and philanthropist) and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos state governor and #Covid19 incident commander).” was the statement by CNN.
According to CNN, Bobi released a coronavirus song that has garnered over 1 million views and recently announced plans to airlift Africans out of China in light of the recent xenophobic coronavirus attacks.
Shortly after the CNN post, senior presidential press secretary, Don Wanyama reacted insinuating that there were better choices for CNN than Bobi.
According to him, the choice confirms “the fake news label” perpetuated by US president Donald Trump.
“Just confirming the fake news label. A little research would tell you who the key frontline players in Uganda are. Or is it just about pushing a certain agenda?” he said.
The Ugandan government also wondered why medics at the frontline of the virus fight, including the Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng and president Museveni who has been guiding the nation on the virus fight, were left out.
Is Bobi Wine proving to be smarter and smarter each day that passes?
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