Police Say Ugandans Must Get Permission Before Using National Flag

Ugandan police have told citizens they need government approval before displaying the country’s flag in public.

According to police representative ACP Rusoke Kituuma, authorities are worried about people using the flag without following proper rules. He explained that a specific law controls how Ugandans can use national symbols.

Kituuma told reporters that anyone wanting to use the Uganda flag must first get approval from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. He said many people do not know this legal requirement exists.

The police statement comes as opposition supporters have started carrying the national flag more often during political activities. Members of the National Unity Platform party, whose leader is presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, commonly known as Bobi Wine, have made the flag part of their campaign activities.

Bobi Wine has told his followers to wave the flag as a way to show they want change in Uganda’s leadership. Opposition party officials say they turned to the national flag after government banned red berets, which they previously wore to identify themselves and gather supporters.

NUP members now bring flags to political meetings, attach them to motorcycles and cars, and sometimes hang them in public areas including on electricity poles. Videos shared online show security forces stopping and sometimes physically attacking people carrying the flag.

Kituuma said the police goal is to teach people about the law rather than punish them. He noted that most Ugandans simply do not understand the rules about national symbols.

He told journalists that many citizens lack knowledge about what they can and cannot do with the flag. Kituuma added that police sometimes have to enforce laws that people do not fully understand.

The police spokesperson encouraged people to follow the example set by government offices. These institutions raise the flag in the morning and take it down in the evening or when rain falls as a way of showing respect.

Kituuma said some people hang the national flag on electricity poles and use it incorrectly in various ways. He called this behavior inappropriate and asked the public to treat national symbols with respect and follow legal requirements.

The police representative did not directly tell NUP and its supporters to stop using the flag completely. However, he stressed that all Ugandans must follow the law about national symbols no matter which political party they support.