An awakening call
By Sam Evidence Orikunda
With dismay I watched the shabby incident of throwing mineral water bottles and plastic chairs at singer Bebe Cool recently at a music concert organised by Swangz Avenue. This prompted police to take him away from stage for his safety.
Bebe Cool in his statement recently said he had gone for singing not political campaign. People who were throwing mineral water bottles were chanting free Bobi Wine which means it’s the same reason why the singer was harassed.
At time when musicians have come up to join politics you cannot expect all of them to join one side. One will be opposition and the other shall be NRM depending on what they like and what they believe in. It shouldn’t be an offence for one to belong to a certain political party.
After the Arua by – election chaos and after the news spread all over that Bobi Wine had been tortured, Buganda kingdom officials came out to make a statements that was spread in different media platforms. This was backed by a number of other verbal statements that was made by the officials of Buganda Kingdom on different functions including Churches. This shows that they were so much concerned about what happened to Bobi Wine but one wonders why this hasn’t been done Bebe Cool because what he faced was torture in its kind. Buganda kingdom would have come up to condemn this kind of hooliganism and intolerance of people and this would have been fair both the subjects and the public.
Many people have rushed on social media to make fun of what happened to singer Bebe Cool and most people seem unbothered. If we follow the law what was done was illegal and if we go political the people who did this lacked and still lack political maturity and they lack leadership skills and no sane Ugandan should support this.
Bebe Cool also prominent Musician is a Muganda and born from Buganda. One would expect be treated same way Bobi Wine was treated because they’re all children born and living in one house and that’s Buganda Kingdom. This doesn’t act as a mere cultural institution but also as an institution that should keep equality and sanity between these singers.
For years, the NRM government has been accused of taking some people as though they’re bigger than others. They say some people are valued more than others which could be true or false. Therefore, those who accuse the NRM government of doing that shouldn’t repeat it too.
Singer Bebe Cool being a fun and a supporter of President Museveni doesn’t mean that he is a criminal. As an old man he is entitled to his opinion and should respect. His business as a musician should go on without being interrupted or disturbed in any way.
Most of Bobi Wine’s funs are accusing soldiers to have tortured the person they see as their leader while in prison. They say government could have done this because of a large following that Bobi Wine commands at the moment, however, the same funs do not condemn the acts done against Bebe Cool instead they thank those who did those silly action when Bebe Cool appeared on stage. That’s hypocrisy and lack of political maturity.
I think when you are aspiring to be a leader you aspire to lead all the people not a few, I think a leader should unite not divide because when there’s unity there’s sanity and hence development. This is what NRM has always called for and worked . Because our history tells us about politics that were religious based and tribal based, this divided people to the extent that a Catholic wouldn’t freely associate with a Protestant but over the years this has changed only that some few opposition characters would want to use it as a way of forging their way to power which is very unfortunate.
This kind of behavior that people have created of involving politics even in music shows shouldn’t be tolerated by the people in authority. Perhaps police would have picked those individuals who threw chairs and bottles at Bebe Cool and put them prison as Bebe Cool goes on singing. We have gone by the foolery of useless rights allowed hooligans to take over our society and morals and if we don’t act this will go out of hands.
We should however, be made to know if it is criminal for one to support President Museveni and NRM and we should be made to know if its mandatory for one to support Bobi Wine and other opposition characters.
The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda is very clear on this, every Ugandan has rights to belong to any political party of his choice without being harassed or disturbed in any way. We should be happy and proud of this because in other countries a mere mention of a word against the president or government in power earns you a ticket to prison. Unfortunately the opposition seems to be introducing the politics of forcing people to belong to their sides, one should be made to understand what you’re fighting for or advocating for and when he is satisfied the liberty to decide should be left to him and that’s when peace shall prevail.
Buganda Kingdom as a cultural institution that brings together these musicians especially those born from Buganda should not show sides. Here in Kigezi we believe that there’s no omwana and ekyana simply meaning that there is no a bad child and a good child.
All the children should be parented equally and should get the benefits from parents that are equal without showing side or without showing that the parent falls for the other. When President Museveni and NRM revived cultural kingdoms the main intention was to bring people back together, unite them culturally and uphold their cultural principles. Going against all this will be going against the thoughts of those who revived cultural institutions.