Ugandan police detained scores of demonstrators, including protest leaders, in the capital Kampala on Tuesday, as scattered anti-corruption rallies took place despite being banned by authorities.
Riot police were out in force across Kampala, with police saying the authorities will “not allow a demonstration that risks the peace and security of the country”.
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for almost four decades, had warned at the weekend that the demonstrators were “playing with fire”.
On the eve of the rally, authorities had cracked down on the opposition, besieging the headquarters of the National Unity Platform (Nup) of former presidential candidate Bobi Wine, arresting several of his party’s MPs.
As Tuesday’s rallies began, a lawyer said scores of protesters were arrested in Kampala, with at least two detained near parliament.
“Corruption has to end today,” one of them shouted – wearing a T-shirt calling for the resignation of a leading government politician – as they were detained by heavily armed officers.
Three protest organisers were arrested as they marched towards parliament, their lawyer Ashraf Kwezi said, adding that they were “taken to unknown place by the police”.
“This is the price we are ready to pay and we are not stopping,” he said.
There were roadblocks on mostly quiet streets, especially near Kampala’s business district, that were heavily manned by police officers in anti-riot gear with some wearing camouflage uniforms.
Posters shared online ahead of the rallies urged demonstrators to march to parliament, but nearby roads were cut off by security forces.
The call to action over corruption has been mostly organised online, drawing inspiration from the mostly Gen-Z led anti-government protests that have roiled neighbouring Kenya for a month.
“We are here to prove that it is not the police which has the power but the constitution,” said protester and human rights lawyer Ezra Rwashande.
“We are not relenting until we have the corrupt out of office,” he added.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said “some people who defied the police directive not to engage in the March to parliament have been picked up for questioning”. A police operation was “ongoing”, he said.
A heavy police presence also remained in place around Nup’s headquarters in a suburb of Kampala, a day after opposition leader Wine said the building was “under siege” by police and army officers.
On Monday three lawmakers with the opposition group were detained by police on “various offences and remanded to prison,” according to the police spokesperson.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had called on Monday for people to support the anti-corruption demonstrations.
“We want a country where we all belong not for the few in power,” he said.
A Nup spokesperson confirmed that three legislators, along with seven others connected to the party, had been detained.
Tuesday’s march was organised on social media with the hashtag #StopCorruption by young Ugandans – about 15million citizens out of a population of 45million are under the age of 35, census data shows.
Graft is a major issue in Uganda, with several scandals involving public officials, and the country is ranked a lowly 141 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index.
Earlier this year, the US and Britain imposed sanctions on several Ugandan officials including parliamentary speaker Anita Among and two former ministers over alleged corruption.
Cape Times