Understanding The Foreign Hand In Bobi Wine’s Rise And Politics

By Edwin Sesange

Jacqueline Wolfson is a name many Ugandans will not recognize. To those who have come across her in Kampala, they simply know her as Jackie, the muzungu woman trying to help street children through her NGO called “Shule Foundation” based in Kireka-Bweyogerere.

But beneath the philanthropic facade lies a calculating political operative, a front of powerful American lobby groups, whose sole focus now is to cause regime change in Uganda and possibly install a puppet leader. There are two key items on their agenda; homosexuality and oil.

On July 20th, 2018, Wolfson, who chooses to keep a low profile and tactically keeps a distance from her pet project, Bobi Wine, made perhaps the most public of admissions on what her exact mission is.

Under the guise of a charity concert at the Kampala Serena Hotel, Wolfson paid and invited renown South African musician, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, to grace a function which was a political unveiling of sorts for Bobi Wine.

At this concert, Chaka Chaka, who performed on stage with Bobi Wine, went on to describe him as “Africa’s new Mandela”, encouraging him to keep up the fight against Museveni’s dictatorship.

A few days later, at a Buganda Kingdom function, Bobi Wine deliberately posed for a photo reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”, to try and propagate an image that his handlers, coordinated by Wolfson, are hoping to cultivate and grow.

But just how does Wolfson and Bobi Wine intersect? In the political classic “Confessions of An Economic Hitman” John Perkins narrates how Western Political and Economic interests represented by their governments and companies hold third world countries hostage, exploiting their resources while controlling their politics.

Wolfson is an Economic Hitwoman. She is deeply rooted in the New York political and social fabric. A known LGBT campaigner and fundraiser for the Democratic Party back home, she describes herself as “self-made” entrepreneur who has made millions from the “concierge” business, a moniker for real estate business.

Whereas she had been in and out of Uganda severally, Wolfson in 2014 decided to set up permanent base in Uganda by starting her Shule Foundation. The timing was very telling. In December 2013, Uganda’s Parliament had passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, drawing strong criticism from then Barack Obama administration.

Ugandans will recall an admission by President Museveni that the moment the Bill was passed, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had gotten on the phone, speaking for 45 minutes, where she basically read the riot act to Mr Museveni. The softer route thereafter was to use the country’s Constitutional Court to declare the law illegal.

The battle lines, however, had been drawn. The Western LGBT forces, that had been critical in propping the Obama government and had desperately tried to get Hillary Clinton elected his successor, knew it would be difficult to play ball with the Museveni government.

It is here that Wolfson comes in. In early 2014, just weeks after Uganda’s Parliament had passed the gays law, she settled in the country. Her mission, with the backing of deep-pocketed funders of the gays community, was simple. Find someone who can play ball.

It has been four years of meticulous research and planning by Wolfson. Being the astute strategist she is, she scanned the social and political landscape searching for an individual they could build as a political force.

At the height of the 2016 presidential elections in Uganda, her group briefly toyed with the idea of backing former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi but were forced to retreat after the hastily crafted The Democratic Alliance collapsed. It was back to the boardroom.

However, on the sidelines, Wolfson had contracted Ann Whitehead, a Canadian trained communications consultant, to make contact with Bobi Wine.

A popular artiste, Bobi Wine, unlike most of his peers, had chosen to keep a critical stance on the government. And where his peers had dined with President Museveni, Bobi Wine had opted to keep close to Dr Kizza Besigye, a former ally of the President, turned his ardent critic who had run and lost in four presidential elections.

Bobi Wine fitted the bill Wolfson and Whitehead were looking for. A celebrity with brand recognition, a youthful face, no links to the country’s military past and already anchored as anti-government. Also, hailing from the populous Buganda tribe of Central region Uganda was a plus. On his part, Bobi Wine presented the ambition they wanted.

Bobi Wine also had one problem. In late 2013, he had taken to social media to attack homosexuals. Reality hit him hard when in early 2014 the UK rejected his visa request, citing his homophobic comments. He failed to travel for a series of planned concerts. Wolfson offered to help him make amends.

Theirs would be to fine-tune the rough edges, help him shed the gangster image, develop a coherent message that resonated largely with the youth, grow his social media presence, support his community initiatives, introduce him to important funders abroad and prepare him to launch a political push.

Those close to the two ladies and their other strategists say the plan earlier was to ensure Bobi Wine rides on Besigye’s back and launches a parliamentary bid in 2021.

The Kyadondo East by-election, however, presented an early chance to experiment on what they had been cooking. Taking on both the FDC and the NRM, Bobi Wine’s handlers have been keen to present him as a “third force”.

In the by-election, Wolfson and Whitehead insisted that Bobi Wine uses the national flag as his main insignia, in a bid to cut a nationalist figure. The victory seemed to come so easy and what has followed after is forcing them to rethink the entire timing of the Bobi Wine presidency project.

Whereas the initial plan was to have Bobi Wine run for Parliament in 2021 and angle for the presidency in 2026 (hoping President Museveni would be off the ballot), Wolfson and group are getting more convinced that Bobi Wine can actually run and win in 2021.

They are in overdrive. One of the immediate tasks was to introduce Bobi Wine to his new masters. That is how Bobi Wine’s sojourn at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University this February was organised.

It now turns out the short course was just a cover. Outside class, Bobi Wine was introduced to several wealthy sponsors of the gay community. Whereas Wolfson was in Mbale at the time, to divert possible links to Bobi, she had used her links to ensure Bobi Wine met and dined with some very wealthy LGBT sponsors.

Among those he met were officials of the New York LGBT National Chamber of Commerce, a powerful homosexual lobby in the US. These engagements besides familiarization offered Bobi Wine’s American masters a chance to size up the man they hope to use for their agenda in Uganda. The verdict seemed to be largely positive, considering what has happened since Bobi Wine returned from the US.

In Part 2 of these series, we shall explore in detail the planning of the Arua by-election debacle, how Museveni’s government was caught flat-footed, the use of Nairobi as a tactical base and how prominent activists were recruited to drive online traffic.

We shall also explore how the LGBT community has used their international media links to decampaign President Museveni and what seems to be the final onslaught against the Kampala regime, a move supposed to be led by an international law firm known for its public support for homosexuals.

Also, do not miss how the wider fight over Uganda’s oil is playing into this politics, and what concessions Bobi Wine must continue to make as he takes his central position as puppet-in-chief of his Western masters.

Edwin Sesange, the director of the African LGBTI Out & Proud Diamond Ground