Bobi Wine: The People’s President

Democracy in Uganda exists only on paper. The current president Yoweri Museveni has been in power since 1984, and he’s got no plans to resign. Despite this, Kamwokya, a slum in the capital Kampala, generates an opposition movement personified by ghetto pop star Bobi Wine (real name Robert Kyagulanyi). The film’s directors Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo follow Wine and his wife Barbie over several years, documenting his rise. It starts in 2014 with protest songs against the regime and culminates in 2021 with a run for the presidency.

There’s a high price to pay for resisting the ruling regime in Uganda, even if you are a member of parliament. The president’s security forces try to thwart Wine and his followers at every opportunity. When he is arrested during the election campaign, violent protests break out, and dozens are killed.

The filmmakers are right where the action is happening, and that can mean they’re in the thick of the violence. They paint a shocking picture of the state of politics in Uganda, a country where the incumbent president has never relinquished his position without a fight.