Police, troops block Ugandan opposition headquarters ahead of protest

BY REUTERS 

KAMPALA – Soldiers and police sealed off the headquarters of Uganda's biggest opposition party on Monday in what a police spokesperson called a precautionary move ahead of anti-government protests planned for Tuesday despite a ban.

Uganda security forces stand guard outside the National Unity Platform (NUP) political party offices led by Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, ahead of anti-government protests at the Makerere Kavule, in the suburb of Kampala, Uganda July 22, 2024. [REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa]

In posts on social media platform X, National Unity Platform party chief Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, said security personnel had surrounded NUP headquarters in the capital Kampala, barring anyone from entering or exiting.

Wine said several NUP leaders had been "violently arrested" and also showed pictures of military personnel at the premises alongside parked army trucks.

"The military and police have raided and surrounded the National Unity Platform offices ..." he said. "The cowardly regime is so afraid of the people because they know how much they have wronged them!"

Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke did not immediately respond when sought for comment about the reported arrests.

Wine, 42, a pop star turned politician, has in recent years emerged as the biggest challenger to veteran President Yoweri Museveni, 79, who has led the East African nation since 1986.

Ugandan youth who have spearheaded recent protests are planning to march to parliament on Tuesday in defiance of a ban on the demonstration, which is intended to denounce alleged widespread corruption and human rights abuses under Museveni's long-time rule.

Wine said his party was not organising Tuesday's protests, but it supported them.

Rusoke said security forces had taken precautionary steps against what he called NUP "mobilisation for the protest".

"We have been monitoring (this). Their activities raised a red flag and we took precaution measures," he said.

Protests are constitutionally legal in Uganda but organisers must secure permits in advance from police, which are only rarely granted.

Opposition leaders and rights activists say embezzlement and misuse of government funds are widespread in Uganda and have long accused Museveni of failing to prosecute corrupt top-level officials who are politically loyal or related to him.

Museveni has repeatedly denied tolerating corruption and says whenever there is sufficient evidence, culprits are prosecuted, for example lawmakers and even ministers.