Continuation over rupture: Bobi Wine and the way of doing politics in Uganda

In this paper, I argue that the emergence of Bobi Wine in Ugandan politics has not altered but rather solidified a rooted political culture based on the individualisation of politics and the weakening of the party system.

To understand what happened at the 2021 elections the paper traces to the history of Uganda back to 1986 when Yoweri Museveni arrived in power. In 1997, Museveni promoted the Movement Act by which all individuals could be members of the united Movement he commanded. By sustaining his regime under a movement and system and not as a political party, Museveni eliminated any ideological stances associated with the NRM as it included all types of peoples and thoughts. This is important to understand the personalization of politics and the weakness of parties as institutions.

Wine has promoted a continuation of a personalisation of politics rooted in a no-party system by creating the People Power movement in 2018. Instead of formalizing his contestation against Museveni in the form of a political party, the musician decided to create a platform to mobilise all types of electorate behind him.

This paper contributes to the literature on opposition movements, their relation with long-lasting incumbent regimes and electoral cycles across Africa. Looking forward, there is scope to build upon this research and others to understand how the next 2026 Ugandan presidential elections may develop. For now, Museveni's son Muhoozi Kaingureba's uprising political platform suggest a future contest with Wine will be laid in the same personalised standards away from the classical party system.

I ultimately conclude that this personalisation hinders the mechanisms of democracies and helps powerful leaders to stay in government over their limits by placing influence and power solely in themselves as individuals who lead a broad-based movement.