From Bullets in the Sky in 1986 to Drone Shows in 2026: Uganda and the art of demystification

COMMENT | PATRICK OYULU | Somewhere in Plymouth, England, Rolls-Royce dipped a Phantom into a swimming pool to celebrate 100 years of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Not because the driver confused it for a landing site at Ggaba Beach. It was intentional. A luxury brand creating a moment. A story. A conversation. Marketing at its most creative.

Ugandans love conversations. Which is why, around the swearing-in ceremonies recently, another Rolls-Royce quietly entered national discussion and nearly stole the show from politics itself. Suddenly, people who had never opened a car magazine were discussing interiors, rims, engines and “fully loaded specs” like seasoned mechanics from Nakawa. And honestly, that is Uganda these days: a country constantly demystifying things.

Back in 1986, the big phrase was “demystifying the gun”. The message was that power should stop frightening ordinary people. Remove the fear. Normalize confidence. Bring things closer to wananchi.

Forty years later, Uganda has expanded the list. We are demystifying everything now. The gun. The convoy. Luxury. Technology. Even the sky.

In the 80s, celebration in Uganda meant bullets and tracers flying into the air, shot by errant soldiers. If New Year reached and nothing landed on your mabati roof, you praised the Lord and slept peacefully.

Then came fireworks. Kampala upgraded from “Cover the children!” to “Wooooow!” Then came Sukhoi jets roaring above the city – fighter planes slicing Kampala’s skies as if Kololo had briefly turned into a discounted Moscow air show. The occasional ‘Kajugujugu’ (choppers) followed. Even the water hyacinth in Luzira seemed shaken. Arsenal fans, of course, claimed the jets were celebrating their soon-to-be Premier League title. Mbu.

But the real shift came this year. Drones.

Not the other Ugandan ones. But the real ones. The flying ones.

Tiny flying lights writing words across Kampala skies, like Wakanda had finally opened a branch in Uganda.

That drone show before the swearing-in may quietly change Uganda’s events industry forever. The same way Silent Disco arrived years ago as a strange foreign thing, only for Ugandans to embrace it fully within months. One minute people were confused why dancers had no music. The next minute, everyone in Kampala were dancing in headphones, looking spiritually disconnected from earthly problems.

Ugandans adopt ideas quickly. Then improve them.

Soon, every introduction ceremony in Munyonyo will have drones spelling “CONGRATULATIONS MR & MRS” while delivering waragi vouchers and roasting the groom’s former girlfriends from the sky. Because that is what Uganda does beautifully. We take fear, mystery and big ideas, soften them with humour, local commentary and excitement, then make them part of everyday life.

From tracers in the night sky to drone show typography above Kampala. Soon we’ll have pyro drone shows, why not? Uganda has truly mastered the long journey of demystification.