BY AGENCIES
KAMPALA — Ugandan security forces detained a number of young people on Tuesday in downtown Kampala who were taking part in a banned rally against what the protesters say are rampant corruption and human rights abuses by the country's rulers.
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| Uganda security forces patrol near 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. [Image: Reuters/Abubaker Lubowa] |
A Reuters witness saw the detentions being made, while a video posted by NTV Uganda on the X social media platform also showed a small group of young people being intercepted and detained by police while they were marching.
The protesters were holding placards and shouting slogans denouncing corruption. One wore a T-shirt bearing the words "Speaker Must Resign".
A police spokesman was not immediately available to say how many people had been detained.
Authorities banned the planned protest, citing intelligence they said showed criminally-minded youths might hijack it in order to loot and vandalise.
Soldiers and police have been deployed around the parliament building and in the centre of the Ugandan capital with the aim of deterring any protesters.
All roads to the parliament were blocked off, with only lawmakers and other parliamentary staff having access, and NTV Uganda images showed military armoured personnel carriers patrolling the area.
Ugandans with businesses near parliament were experiencing difficulty getting to their premises.
"It's like a war zone," Edwin Mugisha, who works in Kampala, told Reuters, referring to the military patrols.
On Monday police sealed off the offices of Uganda's biggest opposition party, accusing it of mobilising for the protests, and detained some party officials, including its lawmakers.
The party denied it was organising the march, but said it supported it.
Opposition leaders and rights activists say embezzlement and misuse of government funds are widespread in Uganda.
They have long accused President Yoweri Museveni of failing to prosecute corrupt senior officials who are politically loyal or related to him.
Museveni has repeatedly denied condoning corruption and says whenever there is sufficient evidence, culprits including lawmakers and even ministers are prosecuted.
Young Ugandans have been mobilising support online for the march to demand an end to what they say are high levels of corruption and bad governance.
They have partly been inspired by their counterparts in neighbouring Kenya, whose recent mass protests forced their president to axe plans to increase taxes.
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