A look into the President’s wardrobe preference; why he prefers casual look even on official functions.

COMMENT | DAVID JACKSON OBOTH |  Why does the President dress casually even when he is  handling serious state matters?  I  bet it’s a trend that has eluded the understanding of many people as to why this iconic leader does what he does, including sticking to a particular dress code. There were widespread murmuring when the President changed  his official national portrait from one in a a suit to  a casual outfit –  his favourite white shirt.

A few weeks a go I wrote about how his daughter Natasha Karugire barely outsmarted him to get him to dress in a modernized white blazer which is not very different from his favourite Uganda-made shirt for his 50th wedding anniversary. There is a reason why the President maintains a casual out look.

Why does  Ssabalwanyi prefer the casual look when it comes to fashion and message what kind of message is he sending out?.

We often see him in an oversized  white shirt matched with a black pant,  feet in sandals, and on a cold day he throws in an oversized army jacket complete with a scuff. It doesn’t matter who he  is meeting within the country and where he is officiating as guest of honour. His herdsman’s  hat will be on his head. Doesn’t this dress code bother the head of state? The man whose wardrobe budget is estimated in billions?

Many would argue it should. But if you run your mind through his own, intrinsically, you will notice that the President has operated on a far superior state of mind compared to many Ugandans in the political, religious or cultural spheres.  Ideologically, he rides alone like an eagle, and he prefers to look different like the lion with a mane. What better way to prove that superior state of mind than to take up a different outlook?

In October 2014, I was part of the MTN Marathon team that welcomed the President in the remote villages of Karamoja to commission the freshly constructed water facilities using the MTN Marathon proceeds.

A few of us were standing at the commissioning site waiting for the arrival of the President. I was in company of Gen Nakibus Lakara who was overseeing security in the Karamoja region, ( He was Brigadier then) Robert Kabushenga, then from Marathon partner  Vision Group, Anthony Katamba,  then MTN, Head of Legal  and Corporate Affairs, Mazen Mrue MTN CEO then and others.

It was approaching 4pm and nimbus clouds hovered over the Karamoja plains a sign eminent storm was in the offing. The President had spent two days already in the region and news reaching us was that he had set up a tent in the jungle where he was residing and assessing the security situation in the region.

A few minutes later his lead car showed up and soon the General was stepping outside his vehicle.  He then nonchalantly walked toward us where we had formed a line to welcome him and shook our hands. As he responded to Gen. Nakibus’s salute his eyes were on some hills a distance away from where we were. Pointing at the hills he asked if they were the ones he knew very well.  He mentioned them by name one by one as Gen. Nakibus nodded  his approval like a gheko.

Obviously the President’s interest and attention was more on his surroundings than the occasion for which he had honoured us with his presence. What does that say?  what interests Gen. Museveni is not  what would ordinarily interest an ordinary person.

To understand the President well and to know why he does his things the way we see him doing today,  one must go back to who he was during his youthful days. Right from Ntare school to Dar es Salaam university he was known to be a loner who would sit alone and think deeply about African politics. In his book Sowing The Mustard Seed, Museveni admits that he was not one taken up by things that appealed to the youths. He stayed away from alcohol, discos, and relationships with opposite sex. Instead he was bothered by the primitive ways of his people such as the way they were grazing their cows and the hygiene at the kraals. He would find himself mingling with the cattle keepers teaching them ways of keeping their animals healthy and more productive. Not many young people of his age would think of such.

The President we know very well today is a man who knows all parts of Uganda like the back of his hands. North to the South, East to west. If that places him in a more entitled position as the President of the country, then who can take that away from him? The man  dedicated  his life from childhood through youth and even part of his adult years when he was fighting the protracted wars to discover Uganda in it’s entirety. The journey was not only about discovering the country, but also the ways of it’s people. who is who in the country and how to handle the different entities.  Having done all that the President has adopted a relaxed mode hence the casual outlook. He would rather feel light in a casual out look, don his hut, cup of coffee or porridge in his hands, and reminisce all his achievements.

Today when we see the President dressed casually and meeting diplomats in sandals, inviting all and sundry to his Rwakitura country home,   the President is simply demonstration his superior state state of mind  for he has invested a lot to make Uganda what she is today.  No one else deserves this country more than he does .

He will take you around his farm and show you how healthy his cows look, dressed in the same attire he will use to show up in Parliament or any official function. No one will challenge him for that?

Some say he thinks the country is his, Others think he probably dresses that way for health or security reasons while other think he is just a stubborn old man with a village background. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about the President’s dress code. One thing is clear. President Museveni gets away with anything he does because he operates at a far superior state of mind than his critics.

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Jackson Oboth is a Development Communications Specialist, Journalist and a Public Relations Practitioner.