Politics and the power of celebrity

“We want to cause political change,” Mr. Kyagulanyi said. “It’s long overdue.”

He had arrived on the political scene, brandishing a raised fist in the idiom of freedom fighters the world over.

The cult of celebrity engendered the cult of Bobi Wine and suddenly a popular singer became a much sought-after politician.

His popularity was such that even President Museveni tried to claim he himself had ghetto roots, to rob Mr. Kyagulanyi’s power base right from beneath his nose.

Bobi Wine pulse uganda

After all, Uganda has the world's youngest population with over 78 per cent of its population below the age of 30.

Many of these dwell in the ghettos of Uganda. With just under eight million youth aged 15-30, the country also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.

These youth looked to Mr. Kyagulanyi, a fellow ghetto gladiator, to correct their material misfortunes.

The power of celebrity

Celebrity and politics have always been bedfellows. So Bobi Wine’s ascent to the political heights should not have come as a surprise. It’s extent, yes. But its occurrence, no.

The examples of celebrities who became ‘farces to reckon with’ in politics are legion.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-American bodybuilder turned movie star who became Governor of California; Italian comedian Beppe Grillo, who founded the Five Star Movement; Yair Lapid, an Israeli television host turned opposition party leader; are just a few of the celebrities who alchemized their popular appeal into Midas gold, glittering with their growing political gains.

The allurement of celebrity cannot be denied. That is why, in 2003, President Museveni had to ask, “Who is Gaetano?” upon realising how popular he was thanks to his between-the-sheets athleticism during Big Brother Africa 1.

President Museveni got an answer to his question after sending his presidential helicopter to bring Gaetano Jjuuko Kagwa for a courtesy call in Soroti.

Gaetano, accompanied by his very own bedfellow, Ms Abergail Plaatjes, and Mr Alexander Holi, all former housemates in the Big Brother Africa house, met the President for half an hour.

The president gauged Gae’s celebrity and realised that he could channel it to his own purposes, before Gae parlayed it into a political career, of a kind.

Years later, celebrity propelled Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign to its historic conclusion. When billionaire celebrity Oprah Winfrey threw her support behind Obama during the Democratic primary, Obama found himself with a million more votes. However, celebrities do not always achieve their intended political goals.

Celebrity flops

Kanye West announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency in 2020; he garnered around 60,000 votes across 12 states. This is shocking for a man with millions of social media followers and countless fans offline.

It is clear that celebrity has its limits in politics. If it didn’t, Kamala Harris would be US President-elect. She had virtually the whole of Tinsel Town batting for her, as it were.

To be sure, Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president moments after the end of Harris’s winning presidential debate against Donald Trump.

Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris. Gregor Fischer/TAS24, Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Business Insider USA

The pop star made her announcement in an Instagram post saying, "I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them."

Within 24 hours of her announcement, 340,000 or so people had visited the voter registration website, vote.gov, using a custom link created and shared by Swift. This did not stop Harris from suffering a massive walloping at the polls.

Charm offensive

Celebrity is like a spell, it can wear off to leave the celebrity rather diminished in the realm of popular acclaim. That is why Gaetano is not as popular today as he was in 2003.

Even Bobi Wine seems to be panting in the wake of President Museveni’s ability to outdistance his opponents in the political running. That is because celebrity is, at best, fleeting. It never lasts.

Its foundation too is charm, which is not readily quantifiable. Charm is the ability to beguile one’s audience with the charisma of reflected glory, as fans see themselves in their stars and thus bask in self-recognition.

Still, as sure as ‘brevity is charm in speech’. It is also the source of a celebrity's charm. That is why celebrities who died young like Tupac Shakur, Bruce Lee, Amy Winehouse, Aaliyah, to name but four, are more popular now than at any stage in their careers when they were alive.

As Lao Tzu said, “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” Indeed, the flame of celebrity has not always kindled the political firmament.

This is due to the reality that politics is about the provision of goods and services, not the sights and sounds that come with them and thereby define celebrity.