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WORLD NEWS Saturday 22 September 2018

Africa youth boom on display as Uganda leader faces pop star

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA get by, selling everything
Associated Press from burglar-proof bars to
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — street snacks. They have
Call it a struggle for the soul rallied to Ssentamu’s cry
of the ghetto. that Uganda’s youth must
Uganda’s longtime presi- take over after years of al-
dent this month went on a leged misrule in a country
whirlwind tour of some of with per capita income of
the capital’s poorest slums, just $604, according to the
handing out checks total- World Bank.
ing over a quarter-million “People Power is you, Peo-
dollars. ple Power is me, People
The next day, residents Power is all of us,” he said
turned up in the red colors recently.
of the opposition and in- When he was arrested,
stead gave thanks to Presi- slum residents burned tires
dent Yoweri Museveni’s in protest.
newest and biggest chal- Ssentamu’s voice has
lenger, a crusading pop grown after he won a par-
star and rookie lawmaker liamentary seat last year
who styles himself as the without the backing of a
“ghetto president.” political party. He quickly
The 36-year-old singer who tapped into growing dis-
performs as Bobi Wine is A supporter sits next to posters of pop star-turned-opposition lawmaker Bobi Wine, whose real content when he unsuc-
going toe-to-toe with one name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, at his home in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. cessfully opposed the re-
of Africa’s longest-serving Associated Press moval of a clause in the
presidents, inspiring young by members of Uganda’s next week. Ugandan au- of global musicians have constitution that prevented
people across the conti- presidential guard. It was thorities say the president condemned the singer’s anyone over 75 from hold-
nent who are fed up with sparked by his arrest over has more urgent matters. treatment. ing the presidency.
aging leaders they say are August clashes in which The clashes in which Uganda’s government in Museveni is now eligible
out of touch. the president’s motorcade Ssentamu’s driver was shot response has accused out- to run again when his cur-
While Africa faces a youth was pelted with stones. The dead and five other law- siders of meddling in its af- rent term ends in 2021 and
boom in the decades government denies the makers were arrested and fairs. could rule until the 2030s.
ahead, with the popula- torture allegation and has allegedly tortured have ex- Opposition leaders find it in- Wary of Ssentamu’s ap-
tion expected to double by charged the singer with posed Museveni, a key U.S. creasingly hard to organize peal, the president warned
2050, Uganda is a dramatic treason, which he denies. security ally whose country in Uganda. Four-time presi- youth about being lured
example of the tensions “We must get our free- is a top recipient of U.S. aid, dential challenger Kizza Be- into rioting by opposition
to come. More than 75 dom or we shall die trying,” to rare international criti- sigye has been detained leaders. He once again
percent of Ugandans are Ssentamu told reporters cism. hundreds of times. said youth should be grate-
under age 30, according Thursday after greeting a The European Union parlia- As a fresh-faced activist ful for progress made under
to government statistics. cheering crowd on his ar- ment urged Ugandan au- with widespread appeal, his rule. Then he went to the
Called “Museveni babies,” rival with a raised fist. He thorities “to stop the crack- Ssentamu may pose a slums to hand out money.
they’ve known no other plans a national address down against opposition more serious threat. The donations were a “sym-
president and fear they Saturday. politicians and supporters.” The singer was a small child bolic” token of Museveni’s
won’t know another for a By returning home instead Five U.S. senators on the when Museveni took power goodwill and have “noth-
decade or more. of choosing exile, the singer Foreign Relations Commit- by force in 1986, and like ing to do with prevail-
Wine, whose real name is has increased the pressure tee said they were “grave- many he grew up in a Kam- ing politics,” presidential
Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, re- on the 74-year-old Musev- ly concerned about the pala slum. spokesman Don Wanyama
turned on Thursday from eni, who for the first time continued deterioration of The crowded slums are told The Associated Press.
the United States following in years is not attending democracy, human rights, magnets for impoverished The president has long
treatment for injuries suf- the annual United Nations and fundamental free- strivers who arrive daily made similar donations
fered during alleged torture gathering of world leaders doms in Uganda.” Dozens from villages and hustle to elsewhere, he said.q