By Andrew Irumba
Kyadondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, of the People Power group, is to be one of the panelists  Bobi Wine is one of the featured speakers on July 1 at a conference organized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago, with former Vice President Joe Biden as a special guest.
The five-day conference starts June 28 through July 2. The conference kicks off with a speech by Biden who is currently the front-runner for the Democrats for next year’s U.S. presidential election. Other speakers include another prominent Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg. Bobi Wine is a Ugandan Member of Parliament and a leader of the People Power Movement, representing Ugandan youth who seek an end to 33 years rule by Gen. Yoweri Museveni. He was three years old when the current Ugandan ruler seized power in 1986. Kyagulanyi burst into global headlines last August when he and other Ugandan lawmakers were arrested, beaten and tortured while campaigning for an opposition candidate who later won an open Parliamentary seat, defeating the ruling National Resistance Movement’s candidate.
International pressure forced the Ugandan regime to release Boboiiiiiiii, who is also the country’s best known entertainment artist, who then traveled to the U.S. for treatment. Several U.S. Senators and members of the House of Representatives subsequently released statements condemning the attacks on Kyagulanyi, other MPs, and their supporters. His driver Yasin Kawuma was shot dead during the attack last August with bullets many believe were intended for Kyagulanyi. On January 8, 2019 the U.K. Parliament held a session on human rights abuses in Uganda and several MPs denounced Museveni as a dictator who has rigged elections.
He is to speak on a panel entitled “International Global Peace and Human Rights Summit.” Other panelists are: Momodou Jallow, an MP in Sweden; Rev. Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim, a Korean activist and associate professor of Theology; Daniela Gomes, a Brazilian journalist and activist; Nasir Zakaria, director of the Rohingya Culture Center in Chicago; Dr. Isabella Alexander, a human rights activist and filmmaker. The panel is moderated by Dr. Ewa Ewa, an Illinois State lawmaker.
