Artistes in politics: Is it good for entertainment industry?

The recently concluded general elections have seen a significant number of artistes join politics.

Many being political novices, raises a question on their impact. As artistes, they are expected to prioritise the arts industry, but will it be a walk in the park? Reagan Ssempijja looks into this.

From the times of Sulaiman Madada, a former dramatist and parliamentarian in the Sixth up to Eighth Parliament, art has gradually been daring to hit the political scene.

However, many artistes have been shunning the idea, with the notion that politics is for a certain group of people.

The idea, however, became more apparent during the 2016 general election, when artistes such as Kato Lubwama, Judith Babirye and later Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine joined Parliament.

While their presence in Parliament was not felt in the entertainment industry, which could have led to their exit from the House, another lot of entertainers has joined politics.

This time in even bigger numbers.

Magoola performing with members of Afrigo Band

Moses Matovu, a member of the Afrigo Band, believes this is the right time for more artistes to take up such positions of responsibility and help their communities.

“It is a good development, and I believe that if these artistes are well-intentioned, they can take on both responsibilities of art and politics quite well. As Afrigo Band, we feel proud that one of our own, Magoola, has joined Parliament. We look forward to her positive impact there,” Matovu says.

Artistes who have joined politics include Hillary Kiyaga alias Dr Hilderman, Geoffrey Lutaaya, Rachael Magoola, Mr Mosh Ssendi and Godfrey Kayemba Solo.

Each of them has a political story to tell, leading up to their recent victory.

Racheal Magoola

Known for her 1990s hit song Obangaina with Afrigo Band, Magoola’s first attempt at elective politics was during the 2016 general election.

However, Lady Luck did not smile on her, so she lost. Magoola gave it another try this year by vying for the Bugweri Woman MP seat.

However, before contesting for MP is 2016, Magoola has been holding positions of leadership at village level.

“I have been chairperson of NRM women league, Igombe village and vice-chairperson of the same at the sub-county level,” Magoola says.

Her sight of victory began with winning the NRM party primaries, which saw her becoming the party flag-bearer.

As luck would have it, Magoola is the Woman MP elect for Bugweri district.

Central in Magoola’s campaign was the message of better education, healthcare and agriculture.

This left many music sympathisers wondering whether she had anything in stock for the industry.

For this, Magoola says: “I will use music as a lobbying and advocacy strategy to help the people of Bugweri, but also as a platform in Parliament to advocate a better music industry in terms of budget allocation and ensuring that laws such as copyright bear fruit for artistes.”

Hillary Kiyaga (Dr Dilderman)

After Mazongoto, the song that launched Hilderman’s music career in 2006, he released another hit song dubbed Amelia , written for trade minister Amelia Kyambadde to push her candidature in the 2011 general election.

Upon the release of this song in 2010, it was safe to say, Hilderman had made his debut in politics.

The song went on to be a hit, even after the elections.   

Hilderman has joined fellow musician-cum-politician Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, in the National Unity Platform political party.

Going into Parliament, Hilderman says, besides representing the people of his constituency, he is going to ensure that artistes benefit from the national cake.

He adds: “Previously, artistes from a particular political party have been getting government financial boost. However, I am going to Parliament to bridge this gap so that every artiste benefits.”

Because of active engagement in politics, like many other musicians, Hilderman’s release of music has been significantly low over the last two or so years.

This leaves many of his fans in music worried. He, however, says the worry is uncalled for.

“I will continue producing music because it is what I do. I am a musician first, politics comes after.”

Geoffrey Lutaaya

When the wave of musicians joining politics became even more apparent during the 2016 general election, Lutaaya, too, made an attempt to take on a political office.

However, the start was not rosy for him, largely because of his lack of required academic papers.

Relentlessly, however, Lutaaya hit the classroom again to sit both Senior Four and later Senior Six exams.

This year, the band music vocalist won a parliamentary seat to represent the people of Kakuuto County in Kyotera district.

For close to 20 years, Lutaaya’s music has helped him understand the plight of his people.

He says: “Besides voicing out society challenges such as poverty and unemployment, I have always wanted a more influential platform to present the challenges of people I see every day. This is what pushed me into politics.”

As an elected MP, Lutaaya confidently says he cannot abandon his three-year-old band, The New Eagles, simply because of politics.

“My wife and I will continue nurturing young talent in the music industry because this is my full-time job,” Lutaaya says.

Godfrey Kayemba ‘Solo’

Kayemba may not directly be involved in singing as an art form, but he is undoubtedly active in the music business.

The newly elected MP for Bukomansimbi South constituency is the manager of musicians Rema Namakula and Chris Evans Kaweesi.

This, according to him, earns him a spot at the table of music in Uganda.

Kayemba’s journey in politics visà-vis music is not a very long one. His journey begins as a leader in the music business.

He only became actively involved in national politics recently when the People Power movement hit the political scene.

Kayemba begs to differ from most of the other commentators when he looks at the relevance of music in politics.

He says when artistes join Parliament or politics in general, their cardinal role is not to represent artistes, but rather the people who sent them to the political offices.

“This is where people go wrong when they don’t hear artistes speak about the industry, especially on the floor of Parliament. They feel these artistes are not working at all. However, I believe it is incumbent upon artistes in politics to be vocal and resourceful whenever there is an opportunity to solve challenges that face the industry,” Kayemba says.

 Mosh Ssendi

Commonly known as Mr Mosh, Ssendi made his breakthrough in the music industry in early 2000 with the group Ngoni that has since faded off into the Diaspora.

With less aggressiveness in the singing business, Ssendi gradually faded off active singing and joined TV and radio as an entertainment news and gossip presenter.

This, he says, kept him relevant to the public. When he made the decision to join politics recently, it was still easy to trace his name, at least in Makindye East constituency.

Besides radio and TV, Ssendi says his outspokenness on social media on issues affecting his community in Makindye helped him win the hearts of many, away from music to politics.

Peter Kasolo ‘Swengere’

Known for being part of a famous sketch comedy group, Swengere, Kasolo has also hit the political arena after being elected mayor of the newly created Jinja city.

Like many other artistes, Kasolo was presented to politics by the People Power movement. In his message during campaigns, Kasolo maintained that being a comedian did not in any way mean that he is blind to the politics of his country and Jinja city.

He added that comedy aside, he will make sure that he seriously develops Jinja city back to its former glory.

This clearly sounds like a draining job in terms of time, hence raising questions of whether he will be able to make time for Swengere’s weekly comedy skits.

To this, Kasolo says it will definitely not be business as usual.

“I will have a lot on my plate, especially as mayor of Jinja city, so I may not be as common in comedy as before. However, I am not leaving my art at all. I will always step in when time allows. There is life outside administrative and political offices,” Kasolo adds.

Political artistes: What does it mean

In the past, dating as far back as the times of artistes such as Suleiman Madada and Nyombi Thembo in Parliament, there has been concern from players in the entertainment industry that artistes become passive when it comes to helping the industry.

The sentiments were more pronounced during the Ninth Parliament, with artistes such as Judith Babirye, Kato Lubwama and Robert Kyagulanyi presumed to be not much of help to the arts.

Kayemba, however, says it is not the role of an artiste in politics to help the arts directly.

“Firstly, Ugandans or entertainment enthusiasts in particular need to be oriented on the roles of a parliamentarian. These artistes have to prioritise their constituents, then think of the industry,” Kayemba says.

Benon Mugumbya, an artiste manager at Swangz Avenue, agrees that artistes are better placed to handle and solve problems of young people and their communities in general.

“Since these artistes interact with communities and young people more, they are able to tackle and solve their problems. On the part of our entertainment industry, I still have hope in the artistes who have joined political offices, especially the ones who have joined this year. I have dealt with some of them and I know their character,” Mugumbya says.

Robert Musiitwa, the spokesperson of Uganda National Cultural Centre (UNCC), says the issue of artistes joining politics is good, however, the challenge has always been that many of them join without any form of orientation on how administration or leadership is handled.

Therefore, when they sit in office, they fail to make any impact.

“As UNCC, we actually want to sit down with the new cohort of artistescum-politicians, so that we take them through how they can be of help to the arts industry. I believe this will create a difference this time around,” Musiitwa says.

He adds that unlike previously when artistes were only hired to sing on campaign trails, this time they have come to the forefront and should not be undermined.  

Photo caption: Artistes Bobi Wine, Geofrey Lutaaya, Ronald Mayinja, Dr Hilderman, Kayemba Solo and Ivan Kyeyune taking a selfie in 2019. Many artistes joined politics under the National Unity Platform party