Ugandan designer ‘depressed’ after dreadlocks cut in jail

Latif Madoi, a prominent Ugandan designer, was at his fashion academy on 13 May when police officers marched into the building.To Mr Madoi’s suprise they put him in cuffs, arresting him and four of his students. They also seized some of designer’s sewing machines and finished garments.Mr Madoi’s offence? Prosecutors charged the 47-year-old with possessing “uniforms declared to be for the exclusive use” of the military and police, which is illegal under Ugandan law.More than a month later, Mr Madoi remains in Kasangati prison, on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala.He is “depressed”, his lawyer George Musisi told BBC News, and having to cut off the dreadlocks he spent 17 years growing is one of the main reasons.Haircuts are standard procedure for all inmates in Uganda but Mr Madoi’s locs were key to his Rasta identity, Mr Musisi says.This sentiment was echoed by Bobi Wine, Uganda’s charismatic opposition leader and singer, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.After visiting Mr Madoi in jail, Bobi Wine told his two million followers on social media platform X that the designer’s “greatest pain was having to lose his dreadlocked hair”.Critics are convinced Mr Madoi was locked up because he designed Bobi Wine’s signature, fire engine-red overalls.The hashtag “#FreeLatif” has been circulating among Ugandans on social media, with the self-styled “ghetto president” weighing in.”I publicly wear the overall that he made for me, why should he be in jail for making it?” Bobi Wine asked his X followers.