On Tuesday, the streets of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, were heavily policed ahead of a planned anti-corruption rally, which authorities had banned. Approximately 60 individuals, including a prominent TV and radio presenter and three young protest leaders, were swiftly brought before the courts and remanded in custody on charges such as being a “common nuisance.”
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for nearly four decades, warned over the weekend that the demonstrators were “playing with fire.”
Riot police were deployed across Kampala, manning roadblocks, particularly near the business district, and sealing off roads to parliament. Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke stated that authorities would not permit any demonstration that threatened Uganda’s “peace and security.”
The call to action against corruption was organized by young Ugandans online, with colorful posters encouraging people to march on parliament, drawing inspiration from neighboring Kenya’s largely Gen-Z-led anti-government protests. Corruption is a significant issue in Uganda, which ranks 141 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index.
“We are tired of corruption,” protester Samson Kiriya shouted from between the bars of a police van as he was arrested.
About 60 detainees from the rallies were brought before the courts in separate hearings, according to their lawyers. Among them were well-known television and radio presenter Faiza Salima, a social media influencer, and a doctor, lawyer Ashraf Kwezi told AFP.
“The three were charged with a flimsy offence of being a common nuisance… and disorderly after they participated in the protest today, but they denied the charges,” Kwezi said.
Three protest organizers—George Victor Otieno, Kennedy Ndyamuhaki, and Aloikin Praise Opoloje—were arrested as they marched to parliament and have also been charged.
President of the Uganda Law Society, Bernard Oundo, informed AFP that 50 people were charged at one hearing in a Kampala court and are due to reappear soon. Another five were charged in a separate hearing at another court, according to their lawyer, Patience Muwanguzi.
