The era of Togikwatako is long gone. The Constitution that the opposition forces donned the red colour in solidarity to protect was amended (touched) in December 2017.
As if that was not enough defeat, the Constitutional Court sitting in Mbale on July 26, put the last nail in the Togikwatako coffin when it upheld the amendment to remove Article 102(b) from the constitution.
The party’s four-time flag bearer, Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye has been sighted in every part of the country campaigning for the party’s candidates in different elections while wearing red never mind that FDC’s official colour is blue.
When he was announcing the contentious reshuffle in the party leadership, FDC President, Patrick Amuriat was in red but the official party colour since its inception is blue.
This even prompted a warning from the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) the official custodians of the red colour as their party symbol to have their colleagues desist from using their (UPC) colours for their own activities.
The party’s President, Jimmy Akena, said at a press conference that the continued use of the party’s colours by other opposition parties was in violation of the multiparty rules and bringing UPC’s brand to disrepute.
Electoral Commission weighs in
According to the Electoral Commission, Uganda has 29 registered political parties all of which have unique symbols and colours.
“The rationale behind this is not to confuse voters during elections and to have so harmony just like the case is in football. When Arsenal is wearing Red, Liverpool cannot also wear red in the same game. It confuses players and fans as well,” Paul Bukenya, the deputy EC Spokesman told Matooke Republic.
Is the intention to shed blood?
In one of his missives about the election violence in Arua, President Yoweri Museveni said the opposition forces who attacked his convoy were wearing red colours. He was not referring to FDC but to Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi’s group that supported FDC’s runaway candidate, Kassiano Wadri.
“This group has been putting on red to signify their intention to shed blood, and they have been putting on Army red berets to signify their intention of using military means. We have ignored those threatening signals,” Museveni said.
FDC speaks out
But according to Buhweju MP, Francis Mwijukye, FDC Members of Parliament (MPs) have not adopted red as their new dress code but it is an expression that what transpired in Parliament last year still haunts them and have therefore not healed from the defeat.
“We are still hurting and mooting how to move forward when our constitution has no safeguards for good governance. If our colleagues in UPC moved on faster than we could, that is good for them but they should not blame us,” he explained.
Mwijukye added that there are MPs like Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) who are neither FDC nor UPC but are using the red colour. It is change that they associate with.