E.J. Magambo | Voice of the Moment
Ugandans are funny people. Give us something we cannot immediately explain and before sunset somebody will connect it to Satan, the Illuminati or marine spirits operating from Najeera.
The recent Makindye SS prom reminded me of this perfectly.
One student appeared dressed like she had escaped from a Vatican horror movie. Another looked ready to summon rain over Kampala. Dark makeup, dramatic outfits, gothic fashion, strange face paint everywhere. And immediately Ugandans did what they do best: panic first, think later.
“End times!”
“Satanism!”
“These schools are recruiting children!”
WhatsApp uncles nearly collapsed.
Now, let me be fair. Some parents actually raised genuine concerns. Proms are slowly turning into mini weddings mixed with fashion week and soft life competitions. One student arrives in a limousine, another enters with enough photographers to cover a presidential rally. The spending alone can give a parent chest pains.
And honestly, not every family can keep up with that pressure.
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But some of the reactions online exposed something deeper about us as Africans—and Ugandans especially. We are still deeply uncomfortable with creativity that looks unfamiliar.
Anything dark must be evil. Anything dramatic must be satanic. Anything different must be corrupting children.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world treats these things as fashion themes, art, performance and self-expression. Young people everywhere experiment with cosplay, horror aesthetics, fantasy characters and exaggerated makeup. It is not always that deep.
But here? Someone wears black lipstick and suddenly village prayer warriors are fasting.
The funny thing is that many Ugandans consume the same foreign movies, music videos and Netflix series every day.
We happily watch vampires, demons and haunted nuns on TV while eating popcorn. But the moment a student recreates the same aesthetic at a school prom, we react with outrage.
Sometimes we confuse creativity with rebellion simply because we were raised to fear anything outside the normal template.
To be honest, some of those students were creative. The confidence alone deserves marks. You could see planning, imagination and effort behind some of those outfits. Not every child wearing scary makeup is preparing human sacrifice behind the dormitory.
Of course, schools still need boundaries. It is still a school environment, not a nightclub in Las Vegas. There should be limits on spending, appropriateness and organisation. That conversation is fair.
But not every strange outfit is satanic. Sometimes a skull is just fashion. Sometimes black lipstick is just black lipstick.
And sometimes a teenager is simply trying to be creative in a country that punishes creativity the moment it becomes uncomfortable.
Maybe that is the real issue here. Not the costumes. But our fear of things we do not fully understand.
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