"U Want Another President?"

we'll be using the force. I write rhymes like I do it for sport, like domes let me cruising their poor scheak. I threw a divorce rap matter door. I killed the bullshit quickly. More I show out, the more kids diss me best out here, and my short fifth fifty eyes go breathe, and then I'm more Bill Bixby. And this don't got nothing to do with the episode. So I guess I'll go shut my mouth and begin the show there, Yo, why didn't anybody stop me? All right?

What am I doing? M lingual franca? We are waiting on reparations. Welcome back another week? So where you got going on this week? I've been good. We're slowly getting unpacked to the new place. It's great. I'm discovering we have a bunch of neighbors who are already friends of mine. That kind of feels like, uh yeah, like a big old party over here. That's great. On the political side of things, UM samps a different day that they're only like big to report, keeping on, keeping on getting involved.

As I just think I discussed in the previous episode with the d SAS campaign for the pro Act, calling UM people in the States whose legislators are kind of on the fence to try to get them to contact the representatives UM to support the pro act. We here enjoyed. You are lucky enough that uh senators us off on war Knock are supportive the product, which is great. UM. But yeah, I've been working on that little tiny bit up well. After this episode, the episode that you guys

are all here and out there. UM, we technically have just two episodes remaining of the first season of the Waiting on Reparations podcasts. So UM, I mean, we're we're just gonna keep it rolling. I'm pretty sure we're not going to have We're not having any sort of extended hiatus because we are going to have a second season y'all. And um, I do think we are going to take a couple of weeks off though, to take a break.

But I've been like, you know, pondering some of these remaining two episodes and you know, trying to go out with a bang, and I'm really curious. I'm just thinking of a hip hop angle for it. But I really want to tackle the whole issue with this uh new rising anti vaxer movement because it's not it's definitely not like some right wing thing. I mean, don't get me wrong, A lot of a lot of right wing kooks are

definitely on the anti vax or train. But you know, there's there's a whole crop of people that otherwise would seem like sensible people who are anti vax there, and you know, skepticism of things like this isn't that doesn't necessarily constitute as one being you know, having no sense, But um, yeah, I definitely want to tackle that because it's been ratcheting up this past week for sure. Uh Fox News has been sounding like a message board right now.

So yeah, that's what I got going on. It's just thinking of of of these uh these remaining episodes, so we can go out with a bang. Speaking of episodes, this week, we're going to continue our globe trotting that we've been doing lately, take a brief trip to Uganda to discuss the rapper turned presidential hopeful Bobby Wine. He was arrested last week while protesting the detention of a lot of his supporters in the aftermath of the Ugandan

presidential election. Election disputes are common in other parts of the world and seemed to be the exception years historically up until recent years. Hence how alarming the January six insurrection was to us. UM, we feel like we hadn't had something like that happened in this country in a long time, UM many hundreds of years, particularly pretending to

like an attack on the United States capital. And so I think something of interest within this week's episode is just looking at election integrity is viewed and grappled with in other countries where issues are more common, more frequently part of their uh political milieu, and um, particularly in country who have had less continuity of government over the decades, in places like Uganda. But first we're going to talk

all about Bobby in the events that surround him. Right after the joke, let's talk a little bit about who Bobby Wine is. I don't know why they Bobby Wine born Robert Kolani said Tamu again. His music career in the early two thousands. His first singles I Could Goma, Funtula and Sunda brought him success all across the East Africa. Has been characterized reggae, dance hall and afrobeat, often especially in the in the last and year six ago UM, but particularly within the last like three or four or

five years, having a socially conscious message. He was a leader of the group Fire Based Crew until it's disbandman, after which she started a new group known as Ghetto Republic of Uganjo. In the past fifteen years, he's released more than seventy songs, mostly love ballads, ragadocious tracks, voting about his riches in the typical hip hop fair um. Early on, he rarely delve into serious topics, but by the late two thousands he began to make a big

name for himself in another arena politics. In two thousand and eighteen, he was elected to the Ugandan Parliament as a representative of Yadondo County, East constituency in the Wikiso district in Uganda's Central Region. He also leads to the National Unity Platform political party. With his rise to prominence, his regular love ballads have been replaced with inflammatory raptus

is of the Uganan establishment. Capitalizing on the growing discontent with a neglectful autocratic government winds populous pro democracy anti corruption movement People Power has gained a pretty big following, especially amongst young, urban and poor people. Bobby Wine, more than any other oppositional leader there, clearly articulated the people's frustration. Before he ran for parliament, Wine was known as the Ghetto President because of his song Ghetto. It was his

first song that was really critical of the government. According to Rolling Stone, Wine said he was inspired to release the song after he saw the government sweep vendors and beggars off the streets of Compo to polish the city's image for a prepared host of the Commonwealth Heads of Government.

Music video has a bunch of visuals of like of military in the streets, tanks rolling through the streets, UM people gathering like police presents UM as well as just like backdrop of like of of ghetto of people hanging out UM and what appears to be you know, the slums. It gives a very you know it Scott is very

like crew vibe. And then the shots where it's like Bobby Wine and like as people like chilling on the block, intermingled with you know, pictures of folks are presumably shot by the police getting carded away, um, you know, people in crowds yelling, and so I think it reflects like iconography that's becoming common uh these days, particularly where people are sort of like UM harnessing the imagery of collective mass action to sort of UM to like set the

stage for UM counter or anti establishment messages in their music. Since then, he's repeatedly used his music as a political tool to rally his supporters and spread his message. As a matter of fact, his use of rap has made him more successful than past opposition leaders. In June two, he announced his candidacy One You've Gone in presidential election, where he sought to take on five term incumbent Worri Museveni.

He ultimately captured about three point four eight million votes in the election of the vote, falling short of Museveni's five point eight five million votes or fifty eight percent. Wine in a large section of the public strongly refute the results of the election, claiming fraud an intimidation carried

disappointed to victory. Wine and supporters have cited cases of soldiers allegedly stuffing ballot boxes, casting ballots for people, and chasing voters away from polling stations, and accused of Musavenia stage coup in the election. Incertns about elections integrity have spark protests all across Uganda and seen hundreds of wine supporters cut Hundreds of wine supporters cut it off to

jail in the months surrounding the final election tally. Bobby Wine himself was arrested last Monday while leading a protest against the detention of many of his supporters. Wine is called on authorities to free his supporters arrested before, during, and after last January presidential election. Gunded authorities have put Wine on house arrest and stated that he can only leave his house under military escort because they fear his

presence in public. Can site right in, well, Dann, that's some fucking Malcolm X levels of of being able to rally people behind you if you got them scared of that ship. Um, it's he's thirty nine, So it's like the era of hip hop that I would imagine he's he came up in. You know, the things that were insinuated and that are exactly the sort of things that would help somebody like rise to political um, you know, just political ascension. You by using their oratory and ability

to communicate with people publicly. Um, you know, the crowd control, being able to rock a mic. Really you know what I'm saying. And it's like if people like the politics that you're that you're saying and you're utilizing your music to get that point across, and people are legit fucking with the music, yeah, yoh, like you can. You can

move mountains with hip hop. Um. On March fifteen, Bobby Wine took to Twitter um to think the fellow leaders who joined him in peaceful protests in Kampala, which is the capital and largest city in Uganda. He said, thankful to those follow leaders who joined me in peaceful protests in Kampala. Is always the cab really regime arrested us all and released us without charge. The police continues to rount my home, which I'll stop at nothing until General

Musavini stops humiliating their people. Now let's go a little bit into just with some of the political dynamic or situation is in Uganda. So the current president, the man who won obviously is Yoweri Mussovini. He's a seventy six year old former guerrilla leader who took power by force in nine six and he's popular amongst many Ugandans because

you know, he he led. He he rose to power in the aftermath of e d I mean and through like a pretty turbulent time in the eighties, and so he's popular with with a lot of the country for bringing that stability and that security. In two thousand's ten, he actually, while running for re election, Mussavini dipped his you know toes in the music game and dropped a rap track of his own entitled you want another Rap? Let's let check that out real quick like a savan

Yes dictatorship bars. I was waiting for that one. It's clearly catchy song that mixes an African tune in local language with English and you know, decidedly clubbyb to it. I think the lyrics of a song highlight must have any's personal story and stress, hard work to get ahead and there they go. He was given a knife, gave it to the people who harvested millet, gave it the millet to the cattle keepers, gave the millet to the call, gave the millet to the cattle keepers, who gave him

a cow, which he took to the king. You can't gave him a life. You wrap so like putting in, putting in work, moving, moving up. I'm in the world. The song starts out with mussavinni, Um, you know what I'm saying. I think I can give you some rap myself now, before beginning to wrap and Runya coore, a tribal language in Uganda. It's got this distinctive kind of gruff voice that flows with the music, sounding like a

bit like an older or in buster rhymes. Um you want another rap, Bi shouts to the beating English, and a crowd enthusiasticly responds yes Sambo mean yes. So that was a cute little club bang your he dropped in

You know it was a two thousand and ten. But Rary's attempts to curry favor with a gun and you threw hip hop hasn't entirely covered up as administrations ills Marius served as president since his military forces toppled the regime of former General Idi amin In X, who was who himself had used power through a military coup eight years earlier. UM. Since then, since Uary took power, and in an effort to reduce sectarian violence, political parties have

been restricted in their activities. Until a constitution referendum overturned the rule in two thousand five, only one political organization, in the National Resistance Movement, was allowed to operate in the country, known as the Movement. It is still the ruling party in Uganda today. It's interesting to me that UM and all had efforts to bring stability to stop the violence. We're gonna restrict people's ability to organize politically

within groups of that are I'd be luctically aligned. I mean, I guess a certain point if you just want stability, if you want know which feels like freedom, like you're willing to give up freedom to have that sense of being a settled society. Over the decades, Mussavini's forces of more from welcome liberators into state police, marred by accusations of extra judicial killings, unfair rest, use of child soldiers,

just general corruption. Even in nine, Amnesty International published a human rights report on Uganda entitled Uganda the Human Rights Record nineteen eighty six to nineteen eighty nine, and that ship had mad accusations of human rights violations committed by

Musavini's troops. More recently, Musavini's former Inspector General of Police was placed on the United States Treasury Department sanctions list for alleged torture, corruption, and all sorts of wild ship that took place under his watch while he was in charge for thirteen years. I'm gonna speak to the fact that like police and military or a problem in every

single country. Um, if we look at the ways that you know, in recent episodes, we talked about the backlash to the arrest of pablost Cell in Spain and the way that the police violence um met the demonstrations that rose up in response there. Um we think about the um when you think about the huge uprising against stars in Nigeria, like anywhere where the state has a monopoly on violence, which is most places. You know, it's like the definition of way, what is what? What differentiates a

state from you know, other forms of community organization. We see, you know, these issues of corruption, these issues of suppression of uh intimidation, um, and you see a lot of human rights abuses. Oh yeah, No, it's it's definitely issue. I mean, I lived in Africa for you know, the half of my life, so especially when I've got into my teen years, I've definitely been arrested for no reason and I've definitely had to pay off cops to not have to go to jail for the night and show

like that. That's that's some common ship. But it's it's one of those sort of things where it's, you know, hearing about this, it's like it's like you kind of you kind of saying, at least to me, I'm saying to myself, like, damn, you know, it would have been better if you'll just had the regular corruption where you got to pay them off because they're fucking with you, and not extra judicial killings and taking people out back

and trying to suppress the sentence ship. Earlier that same year, Mussovini dropped a single that Hot Fire Human Rights Watch issue to report, highlighting cases involving journalists who had reported critical stories about the government being threatened, intimidated, arrassed, and in some cases fraudulently charged with crimes. For example, the Ugandan radio journalists Eric fat Nizo, who worked for a popular radio station and was known for his political talk shows.

He had been actually covering uh Musaveni's main opposition, and he was kidnapped from the radio station and held in detention for eight days until legal pressure against the government from the Human Rights Network for Journalists saw Nitze freed. Bobby Wine himself has been the target of Musaveni's government for oppression. Musavenia has tried to deal with Wines fire and intimidation, but has yet to try to kill him well,

arguably in furious sparking a popular uprising. Wine has been arrested many, many times, often on dubious charges um and as well as beaten, been beaten and torturing. His driver was found shot dead at one point, but Wine claims the boy was for him. Multiple members of his party have also been arrested, beaten, kidnapped, or tortured. Even the cult of personality around Bobby Wine and his immense popular larity, it's pretty sure that his death would send shock waves

sparked the kind of mass operising the government fears. Musivini has multiple opportunities, has had multiple opportunities to permanently deal with Bobby Wine um, but his relucttion to do so suggest that for the time being, Bobby Wine is still

alive because of his popularity. When the multiparty presidential elections were reinstated back in February o six, Mussavini, who was the one who instituted the whole no party system thing, he ran against several candidates this time, and the most prominent of those was the exiled doctor Kisa bess and Jay Now Mussovinni was declared the winner, but bess and j alleged fraud and rejected the results. The Supreme Court of Uganda even ruled that the election was marred by intimidation, violence,

voter disenfranchisement in all kinds of regularities. But at the end of the day they voted for three and upheld the election results. So January's election and the ensuing concern about its integrity all seemed well founded given Yawori's track record with this ship. And it's like you were saying earlier, I mean, everywhere has got elections being disputed. Is not anything that's like uncommon in the world. It's uncommon here.

So like you're saying, that's why people should be alarmed about it, but it's it's it's different from what happened here on January six, And even that is different from Russia Gate, because Russia Gate was like, as somebody who I guess is a quote unquote, I'm not. I'm not inclined to look at the Russia situation and be like, oh, there's nothing to see here. It's all fine. That's just me. If other motherfuckers want to be that, they can beyond that,

that's cool. But for me, it's like if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, that it's a damn duck. And to me it looks like a lot of a lot of fishy ship. But I digress. There was never any part of that that was like yo, overturned the election or Donald Trump isn't the legitimate president, like like no one should listen to what he says, like like that that was never really the call. Like at at best, it was some smoke that needed investigation

and it works. It was like some ship that fucking soccer moms were following on CNN and MSNBC, Like it was a fucking their stories and ship, you know what I mean, Like is relatively harmless ship. One thing we do know with hindsight is it didn't lead to motherfucker's storm in the Capitol or try to up the vote count.

That that never happened. You know what I'm saying. Motherfucker's did go to jail and have to get presidential pardons to get out dubious presidential pardons with that, So you know, I I mean, I'm obviously not in Uganda, so I can't And it's it's hard to really know the intricacies of how Uganda elections work and whether or not Bobby Wines or the opposition leaders of the past have been valid in their claims of fraud and voter disenfranchiseman in etcetera, etcetera.

I'm more geared to not believe the dictators who have been in power for like thirty years, so I'm I'm more prone to go on the side of the opposition in that one and to think that they're probably onto something like you guys, yeah, you guys, you guys, you guys probably got a good idea going there. You know

that something fishery is going on. But at the same time, I'm preparing myself to be in that mindset too, because I don't think that in this country that the Republicans have any sort of intention of winning elections fairly anymore. So I think people here need to get themselves in the mindset of, like, okay, be prepared to be so uncomfortable and unnerved by the results of an election that you know to be wrong, that you feel you can't

just stand and let it slide. The difference is they were doing all their storm in the Capitol bullshit on some ship that most of them know is a lie. Most of them know it's a lie, Like I don't know, if you want to do a poll, it says seventy million Americans think that there was election for I'm telling you set sixty million of them relying their fucking ass off. They don't believe that ship. They're just they're being fu controls.

I mean, I think I think this this tells us interesting things about the way that a history, or like a growing prominence rather of of discourse around discourse undermining elections integrity can kind of like really root itself into the public's consciousness. I think back to how, like you know, in two thousand sixteen, liberals would not stop talking about Russia Gate, Russia Gate, Russia Gate, how the you know

Russia stole the election from Hillary Clinton? But in certain ways set the stage for January six, this narrative that elections can be stolen when your team doesn't win, it must be because there was some kind of trickery UM

that prevented one's favorite party from being successful. Not to say that this is necessarily the case in Ughana's recent elections, since they're UM since not to say that that was the case in Ghana's recent election, but I think there are some parallels between the popular movements UM that we're seeing in both countries with regards to Nathan democracy, faithan electoralism, and people taking to the streets in order to UM to demonstrate for the cause that they care about when

their party isn't not successful and right now, I mean here in Georgia were seeing a number of omnibus voter suppression laws going to the Georgia State legislature UM, which I wonder if it will have a similar impact UM with regards to like liberals, faith and electoralism and democracy like oh well, let's say in two thousand twenty two, you know, stay see from Stunsford governor here and she loses again and then last tame there was some you know,

there was talker on oh her election was stolen from her by brand Kemp and if these laws passed like those doubts will only be more firmly held. I fear UM and so I just another out of us. I mean, there's a lot of problems. There's a lot of problems, like representative democracy on the scale this large, when you have an entire nation, UM, a national government trying to manage the logistics of counting ballots and the lack of transparency that then comes with that. UM. I think it.

I think it serves arguments that I have been hearing increasingly about the need for us to organize in our communities, in our neighborhoods, for us to have UM more, a community sovereignty around UM decision making in our in our neighborhoods, where we have direct cult control, where we can know our neighbors and you know, discuss things one on one UM, you know, and in groups to collectively decide like what we want for ourselves, as opposed to putting power in

the hands of people that fly thousands of miles away to d C too pass bills that may not even uh end up impacting the lives of people in the communities are said to represent, etcetera. Today, the movement still holds the majority in parliament, though other major parties include Forum for Democratic Change, which is the main opposition party.

They have thirty four seats in parliament. And then there's the National Unity Platform, the opposition party of which Bobby Wine is the president, and they hold twenty one seats. Then there's the Democratic Party which is moderate conservative. They've got twelve seats in parliament. And then there's the Uganda People's part People's Congress with ten seats in parliament. It looks like folks are making some progress kinda you know, but uh, you can only take these things one step

by the time. It's democracy after all. And while we were talking about democracy, I wanted to give a quick plug for UM, an event I'm taking part in on April eight. Uh. There's going to be a screening of the Asher Taylor is what is Democracy UM and holding a panel with ASTRA as well as Jin Jerry uh Komanica and holding a panel with Astra as well as Jin Jerry uh Komanica, UM and some other community storytellers, organize your students and educators um to speak about the

you know, like, what is democracy? What is the best way for us to collectively decide thanks for our community? If when you take it to this national scale people, you know, their faith in the process becomes eroded, um bite, either corruption or just by the lack of transparency in the process. You know what. Just reaching the end of this, I think I have reached my Eureka epiphany. I got the end for that vaccination episode. Idea you wishould do

that ship next week? I think a Oh, can you please drop one of those funky fresh hip hop instrumentals that we may wrap it over. Oh, it's the music discussion be where yeah yeah, he yo. They called me dope because I smoke a bunch of marijuana. I'm gonna take it up from Athens to the ghettos that you ganda Bobby Wanbi on his grind trying to do this ship with Donna, and they'd be running campaigns dropping tunes as a reminder. Now, I won't play it against six

stative events. When even the motherfucking dictated a spit. It's only a power play in the way to persist That's why the people on the street can't wait to resist. I rap with a heavy heart that's got the mass of the motherland with niggers that disagree, and they clash for the government. They do in the revolution while doing the running man. We need that restitution. I knew you would understand. I'm gonna be quiet when they throw me

the rope. You can try to deny it, but you know this, dope, I'll be sun and wrappers and sit them down, teach them like a son. Just give me my reparations, or I'll beat you like a drum Mom. Dope, dope, dope. I'm dope knife, I'm le franca and we are waiting on reparations. See you next week, see y'all Waiting on Reparations as a production of I Heeart Radio. Listen to Waiting on Reparations on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.