KAMPALA, Uganda
Police have detained dozens of people as they took part in banned anti-corruption protests in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, a rights group said.
Police and the military deployed heavily in various parts of Kampala where small groups of protesters had gathered on Tuesday.
The protesters waved placards and shouted slogans denouncing corruption. One wore a T-shirt bearing the words “Speaker Must Resign.”
At least 45 people were detained by security personnel during the crackdown, according to Chapter Four Uganda, a human rights group that is offering legal services to the detainees.
Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said the authorities will “not allow a demonstration that will risk peace and security of the country”.
Over the weekend, President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African country for almost four decades, had warned that the demonstrators were “playing with fire”.
Several government MPs face corruption charges, with protesters calling on Parliament Speaker Anita Among to resign after she was implicated in a graft scandal – and sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June.
Tuesday’s march was organised on social media with the hashtag #StopCorruption by young Ugandans – some 15 million citizens out of a population of 45 million are under the age of 35, according to the latest census data.
“We are tired of corruption,” protester Samson Kiriya shouted from between the bars of a police van as he was arrested on Tuesday.
“Kampala is the pothole capital. It’s because of corruption,” he told AFP.
At least five of those detained have been charged and remanded in custody until July 30. They have also been accused of being a “common nuisance” and also being “idle and disorderly”, according to a charge sheet seen by Reuters.
Human Rights Watch Uganda researcher Oryem Nyeko condemned the arrests, and said they were “a reflection of where Uganda is at the moment as far as respect for those rights is concerned”.
Opposition leaders and rights activists have accused 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 ministers are prosecuted.
There was a heavy police presence in downtown Kampala on Tuesday. Roadblocks, especially near the city’s business district, were manned by police officers in anti-riot gear, with some wearing camouflage uniforms cutting off roads to the Parliament of Uganda.
Ugandans with businesses near Parliament also experienced difficulty getting to their premises.
“It’s like a war zone,” Edwin Mugisha, who works in Kampala, told Reuters, referring to the military patrols.
Despite the police crackdown, demonstrators said they remained steadfast in achieving their goal.
“We are here to prove that it is not the police which has the power but the constitution,” protester and human rights lawyer Ezra Rwashande told AFP. “We are not relenting until we have the corrupt out of office.”
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