Uganda: No, Uganda's Police Spokesperson Didn't Dress in Yellow Ruling Party Colours - Photo Digitally Manipulated

12 December 2025
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Makinia Juma Sylvia

No, Uganda's police spokesperson didn't dress in yellow ruling party colours - photo digitally manipulated

IN SHORT: An image has been posted on X and Facebook of Uganda's police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke. He appears to be wearing a bright yellow shirt and beret with the ruling National Resistance Movement logo. But the photo has been altered.

An image posted multiple times on Facebook and X since 26 November 2025 appears to show Uganda police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke endorsing the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, by wearing its branded attire.

In the photo, Rusoke is wearing a yellow polo shirt and a beret with the NRM's logo, standing in front of a Uganda police force banner.

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One post, shared in a public page with over 185,000 followers, written partly in Luganda, reads: "NRM POLICE OFFICER KITUUMA RUSOKE GYEBALEKO JOTUSAKO ENGALO SsSEBO."

This translates to: "NRM police officer Kituuma Rusoke, well done, give us your hand, sir." It is sarcastically referring to him as a ruling-party officer rather than a neutral police spokesperson.

Uganda's electoral rules require security officers, including police, to remain politically neutral and refrain from engaging in partisan campaigning. Government messaging ahead of elections has repeatedly reminded officers that they must not publicly align themselves with political parties.

The NRM has been Uganda's ruling party since president Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986, dominating the political landscape. Its bright yellow colours and bus logo dominate campaign rallies. A photo suggesting a senior police officer is dressed in NRM gear is therefore politically sensitive, appearing to blur the line between a supposedly neutral police force and the ruling party.

But has Rusoke really endorsed the ruling party of Uganda by wearing NRM gear? We checked.

Digitally manipulated photo

We did a Google search with the keywords "Uganda Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke" and found similar photos of Rusoke, but in a police uniform. These photos predate the viral version and are credited as press-briefing images of the spokesperson.

The photo was posted by the Uganda Police on their Facebook page on 28 April 2025, some months before the version with Rusoke in yellow appeared online. It shows the same backdrop, flags and lighting, and Rusoke's facial expression and hand position are also the same. He is wearing an olive-green uniform and black beret, but it is clearly this photo which was digitally altered.

The original photo was also published in several Ugandan news reports.

There is no trace in mainstream media archives, the Uganda police's official pages or government platforms of Rusoke wearing yellow NRM attire.

The image of Rusoke circulating on Facebook and X has been digitally altered.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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