Whenever something becomes familiar, it often loses its identity and purpose. For anyone to truly understand the significance of anything, they might have to walk through the chronicles of whatever they stand for or whatever they hope to stand for.
Rewind to two years ago would do us great, but let us look at the very heart of the matter; “the Uganda constitution”. The Uganda constitution is a living document that is binding but allows the Uganda parliament to make a “few?” or all the changes you can think of as long as you have the backing of the necessary quorum.
It has worked well in amending the LGTB law in Uganda. After passing the amendment in parliament and having it signed by the president of Uganda, it was nullified by the court in 2014 after failing to meet the stated criteria by the Uganda constitution (Quorum).
After the 2016 elections; the future of president Museveni aspiring for the presidency was uncertain because of the age limit cap. No one above the age of 75 years is allowed to stand for the presidency but that was about to change if all went well in the parliament. Just one year into his tenure; the age limit cap lifting bid was tabled.
Age Limit Campaign
When the age limit cap lifting bid was tabled opposition Members of parliament staged several demonstrations to counter the success of this bill and one of these demonstrations went under the title “Togikwatako”. During this campaign, the public was encouraged to put red ribbons on their heads to signify their defiance towards the age limit lifting cap.
Members of parliament later that week were banned by the Speaker of parliament from entering the parliament with red ribbons around their heads. It is then that they had to invent something similar to the red ribbons that were banned. Opposition members of parliament, later on, opted for red huts.
Red huts were descent and accepted in the parliament though they were worn in defiance to the age limit cap lifting. However, due to their appearance, they appealed to the Muslim religion. Some of the Muslim stakeholders in the country complained about non-Muslims wearing huts related to the Muslim religion yet they were not Muslims.
Unfortunately, the bid was lost, and the cap was lifted. But demonstrations continued to go against the regime of President Museveni.
Arua Campaign
Before the Arua campaign, several photos had been shared of Bobi wine posing with Barbi with a red army hut without any symbol. He went and campaigned in Arua culminating the event with the death of his driver and him getting jailed along with people that walked along with him during the campaign
Red top without any Logo
During his days in jail, there was a lot of pressure on social media and the red hut become more popular with the photo of Bobi’s face rising a fist in black and white. It was this hut that was later re-advanced into the current hut that has the people power logo.
The fate of the Red Hut
Though the red hut is still popular, it was declared property of the Uganda people’s defense force. The fate of this red hut is still uncertain but it is still one of the distinguishing identities of people’s power.