A heated African Nations Championship (CHAN) football match between Uganda and South Africa has spiralled into a brutal online war of words, with South African users on X seizing on the perceived failings of Uganda’s political opposition to deliver a stinging blow to their East African rivals.
The initial 3-3 draw on Monday at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, was a tense and thrilling affair on the pitch. However, the real action ignited online, where fans from both nations engaged in the time-honoured tradition of sporting banter, each touting their country’s superiority.
What began as a fairly even exchange of boasts about footballing prowess and national pride took a sharp and deeply personal turn when South African users shifted their focus from sports to politics. The new line of attack zeroed in on Uganda’s main opposition figure, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine.
The South African cohort unearthed and began widely circulating unflattering photographs of Kyagulanyi, including images of the singer-turned-politician appearing to smoke marijuana, dressed in casual attire, and sporting unkempt dreadlocks. Accompanying the images were captions expressing disbelief and ridicule.
“South Africans are wondering what kind of a country would consider having such a despicable thug as their president,” read one viral post that set the tone for the new offensive.
The attack did not stop at imagery. Users also shared video clips showing Bobi Wine, the leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP), struggling to answer detailed policy questions during interviews. This was framed as evidence of a lack of preparedness for high office.
“Any person who cannot answer basic policy questions is not even fit to be a Local Council (LC) chairperson in South Africa. To our surprise, such a person is being considered for presidency in Uganda,” another widely shared tweet mocked.
The Ugandan side, which had been trading insults vigorously just moments before, was caught off guard by the political angle. The onslaught continued as South Africans dug deeper, presenting a now-infamous photograph of one Waiswa Mufumbiro, an NUP spokesperson and parliamentary aspirant, being arrested for allegedly stealing a television. The image was captioned, “A member of parliament aspirant who is also a party spokesperson in Uganda.”
Faced with this barrage of embarrassing evidence, the Ugandan response on the platform faltered. Rather than mounting a defence of their political figures, a significant number of Ugandan X users appeared to turn their frustration inward, aiming their criticism at the NUP and its leadership for “making Uganda a laughingstock”.
“Honestly, how do we expect to be taken seriously when these are the images they find?” lamented one Ugandan user, capturing the sentiment of many who felt let down by their political class.
The online spat highlights how social media provides a global stage where a country’s internal politics can instantly become fodder for international ridicule. For many Ugandans, the match ended in a draw, but the battle on X ended in a resounding and deeply embarrassing own goal.
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