The Uganda Registration Services Bureau has ruled that social media critic, Frank Gashumba doesn’t own copyrights and all the other rights surrounding the slogan, “Omalako Jajja Tova ku Main” .
“The applicant(Gashumba)'s drawing of the silhouette of the president is indeed a transformation of the picture of the president, admitted by the First Objector(Hadijja Namyalo), taken in 2019 during the anti-corruption walk. A side-by-side comparison of the two shows close resemblance. The applicant has not adduced any evidence to prove that the copyright holder of that image authorized him before he made the adaptations, transformations or modifications. Consequently, he cannot claim copyright in the silhouette as doing so would constitute infringement,” the assistant registrar of copyright, Denis Birungi ruled on Wednesday.
Three people including Lwengo LCV chairman, Ibrahim Kitatta, Museveni senior advisor also head of the office of the NRM national chairman, Hadija Namyalo Uzeiye and Gashumba were fighting for ‘Omalako Jaja Tova Kumain’ ,the 2026 campaign slogan for President Museveni.
According to documents, Frank Gashumba on May, 16, 2023 filed an application before URSB seeking to copyright “ Omalako Jajja Tova ku Main Sigala Ku Ballot: Jajja we command you to stand again in 2026 and beyond , bazzukulu ba Museveni to register the slogan as his own art work that he claims he birthed in November 2022.
He applied to URSB to copyright the slogan as his.
Gashumba’s claims were however disputed by Hadija Namyalo through her lawyers of Sebuufu Usaama and Stanley Kangye from K&K Advocates saying she is the originator and creator of the words and the slogan and consequently challenged the move to copyright the slogan.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Kitatta through his lawyers led by Nakyonyi Doreen also challenged Gashumba’s claim to the copyright of the slogan.
On Wednesday, URSB ruled that Gashumba doesn’t have any claims to the slogan since he didn’t originate it.
“I have already held that the applicant has no ownership in the words forming part of the works as they pre-date his claimed date of authorship. Neither the color nor the italicized presentation of those words alone amount to originality. I have also determined that without authorization of the copyright holder of the image of President Museveni, the applicant cannot claim derivative works in the silhouette. I therefore find that the applicant is not the author of the works submitted in copyright application No.UG/C/2023/89,”URSB ruled.
The URSB assistant registrar of copyright said that the disputed works are of a political character and therefore intended for mobilization for the president and NRM.
“They are intended for political mobilization for the President and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and have become synonymous with campaign messaging of the NRM and its youth supporters. While there is no evidence to conclusively determine the author of the works, there is sufficient evidence on a balance of probability, to prove that applicant could not have been the author.”
URSB ruled that since Namyalo’s objection is allowed, Gashumba’s application and the objection by Kitatta are dismissed.
