When someone speaks about the life of Kyaddondo East MP-elect Robert Kyagulanyi, you cannot ignore his wife Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi. Some believe she is the figure behind his the success and is a darling of the media.
Barbara Kyagulanyi, commonly known as Barbie, met Robert Kyagulanyi, more commonly known as Bobi Wine, at the National Theatre in Kampala while she was still a student a Bweranyangi Girls Secondary School. The two were taking part in the same drama production and they struck up a friendship that slowly blossomed into something more serious.
On the surface, it seemed that the two were from such different worlds that they could not possibly have anything in common. Barbara was the daughter of well established veterinary doctors from Ntungamo and Robert was an urban youths who had spent most of his life in the slums of Kamwokya in Kampala.
But Barbara says she saw something in the young musician that draw her to him. She says it is that led her to move in with him once she had finished school and it is also what made her stick with him in the early years when he had nothing but a dream to make it big in the music industry.
At that time the couple were living in a small house in the slums and it was always full of Robert's friends. At the time Robert used to supplement his income by running a small barbershop at the front of their house and he would occasionally trap and sell grasshoppers whenever they were in season.
Barbara also has vivid memories of Robert's crazy lifestyle in those early days. Like most musicians the artiste known as Bobi Wine was given to wild partying, drinking and more than occasional puffs on a marijuana cigarette.
However, Barbara says despite the crazy lifestyle Robert Kyagulanyi was still a man with a vision and it is that which made her be patient with him because she saw beyond the partying and craziness. She says that she talked to him and advised him and he came around to realising that the lifestyle path he was on was going to be detrimental to their future together.
Today Kyagulanyi claims to be a changed man with a focus on greater gaols in life and it is this change in outlook which could have attracted him vie for the position of MP for Kyaddondo East in Wakiso district.
Although Barbara denies having played any role in convincing her husband to stand for election, she says she backed his decision fully once he told her about it.
Barbara believes her husband will make a good legislator because he is principled and he always sticks to his promises. She says he has the interests of his constituents at heart and he respects them.
The couple has 4 children and with the new status, how much time the family will spend together may change. Nevertheless, she is positive that her husband will spend his life serving society even long after he leaves parliament
Although Barbara has been supporting her husband to progress to this level, she has no interest in standing for any position save for her NGO, Caring Hearts through which she believes she can also change lives in the community.