How often do you see President Yoweri Museveni wearing a beanie? How about a pair of gloves or even an overcoat?
Well, very rarely.
For someone whose wardrobe is pretty predictable – shirt, suit, hat – when this pattern changes, it’s easy to catch everyone’s attention.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is the only rationale that makes sense in the President’s latest fashion. We don’t know him to be fashionably open-minded like that.
The President is in the U.S. attending the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, but the weather there has had him depart from his signature outfits. It’s winter, meaning the coldness might be taking a toll on him.
As opposed to his usual hat, this time, he opted for a beanie. Hard to tell if that was his idea, or his daughter’s (Natasha, 46, accompanied him on the U.S. trip), but it gave him a completely strange look.
To assume the President’s sense of style would have Natasha’s influence is not far fetched since she is a fashion designer. The graduate of then American College in London (Bachelor in Fashion Design and Marketing) runs House of Kaine and has previously showcased her works at the Kampala Fashion Week.
She has also previously revealed she wears her own designs and dresses her entire family.
In yet another offbeat style (during his U.S. trip), the 78-year-old leader wore wool gloves. However, this might have had more to do with his peculiar phobia for shaking hands than with the coldness.
President Museveni has consistently continued to wear a mask and avoid shaking hands, even in a time many consider the threat of Covid to be behind us. In a video shared by Uganda Media Centre, Museveni is seen comfortably shaking hands with Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu, thanks to the gloves.
On some days, to keep himself warm during his stay in Washington DC, Museveni has worn an overcoat on top of a suit with a sleeveless sweater beneath it.
Like when he attended a dinner hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House.
At the same dinner, Natasha also wore an overcoat, with a scarf.
On his way to the U.S., the President stopped over in the UK on a working visit, and his choice of apparel there was no different. Except for the heavy insulated hooded parka he donned during a business breakfast meeting, a press engagement and later on arrival in DC.
Museveni has always been vocal about his concerns regarding traveling abroad. And climate is at the heart of those concerns. He has repeatedly mentioned that he prefers Uganda due to its favorable weather conditions.
“When I land in Washington, I get worried. Because I see on the computer that I’m 18 meters above sea level. Uganda is between 621m and 5,109m above sea level,” he said.
He has also previously said: “Whenever I go abroad, things are not easy at all. You’re not comfortable. You’re in hotels, air conditioning. It is very hot in many places, in some very cold. But here (Uganda), life is so easy and so nice.”
