Hundreds screamed with excitement as Uganda\u2019s opposition leader passed by a recent rally, with the crowd waving a sea of national flags — a dangerously politicised symbol in the run-up to this week\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
Analysts say it is almost a foregone conclusion that President Yoweri Museveni, 81, will win a seventh term in Thursday\u2019s vote, given his near-total control over the state apparatus in the east African country.<\/p>\n
But his opponent, 43-year-old Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, has framed the election as a protest vote and cannily turned the national flag into a symbol of resistance. <\/p>\n
Police last month warned against using the flag \u201ccasually and inappropriately\u201d.<\/p>\n
Wine\u2019s supporters have faced frequent intimidation by the security forces during the campaign, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office and other observers.<\/p>\n
But the flag is \u201cthe only weapon we have,\u201d said woodworker Conrad Olwenyi, 31, at a Wine rally this week. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot fight the security, because they have a gun. We only have the flag,\u201d he said. But \u201cif they shoot you when you have the flag, they are shooting the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
– \u2018Reclaiming patriotism\u2019 –<\/p>\n
Uganda\u2019s flag — created when the country achieved independence from Britain in 1962 — has stripes of black to represent Africa, yellow for its sunshine, and red to represent African brotherhood, with a grey crowned crane overlaid.<\/p>\n
In the 2021 elections, Wine\u2019s National Unity Platform (NUP) adopted red berets as a symbol, but the government ruled that was illegal since they were part of the military uniform, and used that ruling to justify raids on the party\u2019s offices.<\/p>\n
The flag is a clever alternative and a way of \u201creclaiming patriotism,\u201d said Uganda expert Kristof Titeca.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of taken the government by surprise, and so that\u2019s why they started this clampdown,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
Like many countries in east Africa, there are laws governing how the national flag may be used, though these were rarely enforced in Uganda in the past. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows the panic,\u201d prominent cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they are threatened by misuse of the flag. They are threatened by the visibility of the support towards NUP,\u201d said Ssentongo, adding that as Museveni ages and nears 40 years in power, \u201cthe space for freedom of expression also shrinks\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has a right to use the national flag, but it depends on in what context they\u2019re using it for. I believe the opposition is politicising it,\u201d said Israel Kyarisiima, a national youth co-ordinator for Museveni\u2019s National Resistance Movement party.<\/p>\n
Security services have repeatedly been accused by Wine\u2019s supporters of targeting those carrying the flag at rallies, with the leader urging followers in his Christmas address to \u201ccome to the defence of anyone assaulted for carrying the flag\u201d.<\/p>\n
And the threats from police have not stopped Wine\u2019s supporters brandishing the flag at rallies. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019ve got something that can really show our unity as Ugandans, and they are trying to make it criminal,\u201d said one attendee this week, Ruth Excellent Mirembe, 25, waving a flag.<\/p>\n
Trying to stop its use is \u201coppression in the highest form,\u201d she told AFP. \u201cThis represents us as Ugandans.\u201d<\/p>\n
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