A month ago, Michael Alinda aka Ziggy Wine travelled to his native home in Mitooma District to pay a visit to his elder brother who takes care of the family property.
In his sporadic visit, Ziggy Wine had specifically wanted to interact with his brother who for long continued to question his behavior having chosen to live a Rastafarian way of life- and of course Rastafarians are so much associated with drugs particularly smoking marijuana.
A close family member (wished to remain unnamed) told this website that for a long Ziggy’s brother implored to change his life style, cut off dreadlocks and live a decent life.
In their conversation (in Mitooma) Ziggy Wine confessed becoming a changed man and had apparently left Fire Base Crew which belonged to Bobi Wine.
He also said he was no longer part of Bobi Wine’s crew and was now on his own hustling in the city.
The news excited everyone at home.
Fall Out
Our investigation reveals that after winning a political slot as Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) was advised to clean up his image since he was attached to ghetto youth that spend most time smoking marijuana in slums of Kamwokya where he owns a string of businesses.
But because Bobi Wine is a busy man, his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi asked to assume the the role of cleaning his image and the entire Fire Base Crew.
“First Barbie began by identified idle youth who made it a habit to pitch camp at Fire Base studios and spent time smoking weed,” said a source.
Barbie issued a directive to Fire Base to chase away all those “idlers” because they were denting her husband’s image.
After that, she issued instructions to the manager of Fire Base John Ssentamu, a brother to Bobi Wine to lay off those deemed as ‘associates of Bobi Wine’ that weren’t contributing much for the crew both musically and financially.
Barbie argued that the clean up could foster discipline and self sustaining for these less active members of firebase.
However, those affected misinterpreted the clean up otherwise.
“Many up to now think that its Bobi Wine who sent Barbie to fire them,” said a source.
Among those affected was Ziggy Wine.
Whereas he wasn’t an active singer at Fire Base, he spent better part of his chilling at the studio consuming drugs.
“Well he had his small businesses in Nakulabye but would always be stationed at Kamwokya.”
After the fall out, Ziggy Wine shifted base to Nakulabye- near Chez Johson where he set up a small workshop dealt in repairing shoes.
Not a Singer
This website contacted Fire Base manager John Ssentamu who struggled to recall any of Ziggy’s songs.
“He has his songs some are in Runyankore. But I have forgotten them. But they are there,” Ssentamu said on phone.
Asked whether he the deceased was signed to Fire Base, Ssentamu openly said, “no.”
“Fire Base gives any musician chance who thinks has a talent. But we don’t officially sign them and anyone is free to go just like how Butcha Man and Bebe Cool who were at one time our members and left,” he said.
Pressed on to substantiate on Ziggy’s status while in Fire Base, Ssentamu revealed that he had no time for “small musicians” because his concentration is on the big artiste- Bobi Wine.
“My job at Fire Base is Bobi Wine, those other young musicians usually deal with the DJs.”
Pressed on if Ziggy Wine was close to Bobi Wine as the later claims, Ssentamu responded, “didn’t you see pictures on when they were together.”
The internet pictures which circulated show Ziggy Wine and Bobi Wine at a time when the laterf hadn’t joined politics as Kyadondo legislator and still had dreadlocks.
Asked if he could avail a recent picture of Ziggy and Bobi Wine, Ssentamu didn’t respond.
At the time of his death reports emerged how influential the deceased was to Bobi Wine and People Power as a whole.
Some members of People Power claimed Ziggy operated Bobi Wine’s social media pages and was also genius in IT.
For many times, Bobi Wine insisted he was “very close” to Ziggy Wine.
Ziggy shot to limelight when his picture was carried on a front page of a local daily indicating that he had been dumped at Mulago having been kidnapped, tortured, two fingers cut off and eye plucked out.
The newspaper has since issued an apology after police clarified that his death was caused by an accident in which he sustained head injuries after knocking a man and a lady on July 21 in Kyebando.
Police’s account has however, been dismissed by People Power members who insist Ziggy was tortured by the state.
Michael Alinda was buried at his native home in Mitooma on Wednesday.