Uganda\u2019s opposition has turned the national flag into a protest symbol ahead of the presidential election, drawing warnings from police.<\/p>\n
KAMPALA: Uganda\u2019s national flag has become a dangerously politicised symbol ahead of this week\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n
Hundreds screamed with excitement as opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi passed by a rally where the crowd waved a sea of national flags.<\/p>\n
Analysts say it is almost a foregone conclusion that President Yoweri Museveni will win a seventh term given his near-total control over the state apparatus.<\/p>\n
His opponent, better known as Bobi Wine, has framed the election as a protest vote and turned the 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 security forces during the campaign, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.<\/p>\n
But the flag is \u201cthe only weapon we have,\u201d said woodworker Conrad Olwenyi at the rally just outside Kampala.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot fight the security, because they have a gun. We only have the flag,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Winnie Byanyima, wife of imprisoned opposition leader Kiiza Besigye, said Wine and his supporters were using the flag as a symbol for national unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd guess what? The reaction of President Museveni has been to say, you may not use the flag,\u201d she told AFP.<\/p>\n
Uganda\u2019s flag was created when the country achieved independence from Britain in 1962.<\/p>\n
In the 2021 elections, Wine\u2019s National Unity Platform adopted red berets as a symbol, but the government ruled that was illegal.<\/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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows the panic,\u201d prominent cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has a right to use the national flag, but it depends on in what context they\u2019re using it for,\u201d said Israel Kyarisiima, a youth co-ordinator for Museveni\u2019s party.<\/p>\n
Security services have repeatedly been accused by Wine\u2019s supporters of targeting those carrying the flag at rallies.<\/p>\n
Wine urged 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 waving 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 Ruth Excellent Mirembe at this week\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uganda\u2019s opposition has turned the national flag into a protest symbol ahead of the presidential election, drawing warnings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[2563,11220,11221,153,4672,2564],"class_list":{"0":"post-17847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uganda","8":"tag-bobi-wine","9":"tag-national-flag-protest","10":"tag-opposition-symbol","11":"tag-uganda","12":"tag-uganda-election","13":"tag-yoweri-museveni"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}