By Dixon Bond Okello
For all their talk about being credible and possessing a huge responsibility to their fans and followers, we should spare Ugandan celebrities because they will always turn to politicians. The bond is eternal because it is forged by the strongest of glue – the need for money. Politicians have money to spend, celebrities need money to acquire and spend.
For the artistes, it’s very good business. A Ugandan singer, actor, writer, comedian or presenter exists to make money. If a politician has money to release for a service that goes against reason and logic, his corrupt past miraculously becomes immaterial to the scheme of things. It doesn’t matter whether the politician who needs support is of questionable character. Money knows no enemy. It is all-embracing. If a top artiste like Bebe Cool, Chameleone, Bobi Wine backs your campaign, one might even get to think the shady politician was wrongfully robbed of deserved sainthood.
That’s why some of our stars, show support for politicians that receive the most anger from the citizenry. They are not insensitive to the voices from the streets, they know. But they need the money, and it’s not their business what some random person from the street feels. They are not in the business to share grievances. They are businessmen, and profit-making is the aim of their game.
Let’s have this at the base of our thinking when we see the stars and corrupt politicians dancing on stage. One party needs the vote. The other just wants a bank alert.