By Adolph Muhumuza
As Uganda prepares for another election, the air is heavy not only with campaign slogans but also with stories carefully crafted to touch the hearts of voters. Behind the grand rallies and glossy posters lies a quieter but powerful playbook.
For decades, politicians have mastered the art of humanizing their struggles, magnifying their pain, and dramatizing their loyalty to the people. These emotional performances are designed to collapse the distance between leaders and citizens, transforming politicians from untouchable elites into fellow victims, survivors, and supposed guardians of the nation.
Across villages and towns, familiar scenes unfold. A politician once Moved in Toyota Landcruiser(Mpa enkoni) suddenly appears on a dusty roadside eating a simple plate of kikomando, others lingers in a community markets, pausing to share a heartfelt moment with a struggling vendors. Cameras flash and the image comes tabloid headlines pushing false narratives of hope. For a brief moment, he is not a powerful figure but an ordinary man who claims to understand the struggle of 1 meal a day and hardship.
Others lean on the story of sacrifice, reminding crowds of the years they spent in prison, the battles they endured, or the struggles of their youth. Their pain becomes part of their campaigns, an emotional appeal designed to show that they too have walked the hard road and therefore deserve the people’s trust. Still others turn their troubles into shields, framing arrests, investigations, or public criticism not as accountability but as persecution, evidence that they are being punished for standing with the people.
These are not just campaign strategies. They are stories crafted to stir empathy and forge an emotional bond. And yet, the real test for citizens is to look beyond the drama of sympathy and ask whether these same leaders will still stand with the people when the election dust settles.
