Singer-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, is now free to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) after the government lifted a travel ban it had slapped on him.
Bobi Wine had been banned from travel to the UK by the country’s Home Office on the basis of the anti-gay lyrics he released in 2014.
But on Sunday, 05 November 2023, Bobi Wine, who is the president of the opposition National Unity Platform, revealed that the ban has been lifted and hailed the party’s legal team for the effort.
“I want to appreciate our legal team in the UK for the relentless fight and our NUP/People Power diaspora comrades for constantly raising our voice through protests as well as knocking on different doors. Their main argument has been that it is unfair to open their doors for Gen. Museveni, a world-renowned tyrant, and yet continue to shut the door for me who, together with many others are trying to build a free and democratic country,” he wrote on X.
“I am very glad to inform you that the ban against me from entering the UK has finally been overturned, and I will soon be visiting the UK after more than 10 years,” he added.
The UK’s Criminal Justice and Immigration Act of 2008 prohibits inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. And in 2014, his anti-gay sentiments had him banned from traveling to the United Kingdom after gay rights campaigners accused him of inciting homophobic attacks in his song lyrics.
Among the lyrics highlighted as inciting homophobia were: “Burn all the batty man. All Ugandans get behind me and fight the batty man.”
But at the time, Bobi Wine insisted that his views were simply representative of his country. He told Ugandan paper The Daily Monitor: “I am personally not out to threaten the life of any individual based on their sexual orientation, I just do not agree with them [homosexuals]. This is my opinion and happens to be that of 99 per cent of Ugandans.”
