NRM Covers Opposition Posters with Museveni’s in Kawempe, Nansana

Both the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Presidential Elections Act state that anyone who maliciously defaces, removes or tears any election poster commits an offence punishable by a fine of up to 480,000 shillings, imprisonment of up to one year, or both.

President Museveni's posters

As the campaign convoy of Yoweri Museveni rolled through Kampala and Wakiso, residents of opposition-leaning neighbourhoods woke up to walls and roadways newly washed in yellow, often at the expense of rival candidates’ faces.

Across Kawempe Division and Nansana Municipality, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) campaign team painted roads in the party’s signature colour and systematically removed or overlaid opposition posters with banners bearing the President’s image.

At Bwaise roundabout, posters of Shamim Malende, the National Unity Platform candidate, were covered with NRM banners and portraits of President Yoweri Museveni. Along the Bwaise flyover, walls that once carried a mosaic of campaign messages now display a near-unbroken stretch of the President’s image.

Similar scenes played out on Kampala-Gulu Road: at Kutaano junction and through trading centres towards Kawanda, a venue of a major NRM rally in Nansana today. By morning, opposition posters had largely vanished. For candidates on the receiving end, the loss is personal and costly.

Stephen Nkambo, one of those affected, said the removal of posters signals disrespect and impunity by the ruling party’s campaign team. He noted that ample advertising space exists across the area and questioned why rivals’ materials were targeted instead of unused sites.

Salim Sserunkuuma, also known as Mafu Mafu, a parliamentary candidate for Kawempe North, described the defacing of his posters as an act of cowardice, saying it robs candidates of the simplest way to introduce themselves to voters.

Opposition leaders say the practice is becoming routine whenever Museveni tours urban centres. Betty Naluyima, the Wakiso District Woman MP seeking re-election on the National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket, reported significant losses after all her posters along Entebbe Road were removed.

“They do this with impunity,” Naluyima said. “I’m told those pulling the posters down move in security vehicles at night. We spend money to print these materials, and even when you tell the Electoral Commission, nothing happens.”

Critics argue the poster removals fit a broader pattern of squeezing opposition visibility, especially in urban strongholds where anti-Museveni sentiment runs high. Similar vandalism has been reported in Busoga, Bugisu and Busia in recent months. Uganda’s electoral laws prohibit the defacement, removal, or destruction of campaign materials.

Both the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Presidential Elections Act state that anyone who maliciously defaces, removes or tears any election poster commits an offence punishable by a fine of up to 480,000 shillings, imprisonment of up to one year, or both.

Local ordinances enforced by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) also regulate outdoor advertising and ban unauthorised alterations, while the Local Government Act classifies defacement as a criminal offence, reinforced by Electoral Commission directives.