Africa

Dozens arrested in anti-corruption protest in Uganda’s capital

Dozens arrested in anti-corruption protest in Uganda's capital

Jul 23. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Ugandan security forces arrested dozens of people in the capital Kampala on Tuesday following a call for a series of anti-corruption protests by the opposition coalition National Unity Platform (NUP), led by Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine.

The ‘March against Corruption’ was called to demand the resignation of the Speaker of Parliament, Anima Among, although the authorities have made a large security deployment in the city, including blocking access to the legislative body, to prevent the success of the call.

Praise Opolose, one of the organisers, told Ugandan newspaper ‘Daily Monitor’ that the protesters “came from different places”, although she acknowledged that the police deployment had caused changes to the route of the march.

“The massive deployment everywhere is endangering our security,” he said, days after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni issued a warning against those taking part in the protests, which took place a day after the arrest of several senior NUP officials.

Bobi Wine himself said on Monday through his account on social media X that “the Army and the Police carried out raids and surrounded the NUP offices in Kavule.” “The cowardly regime is afraid of the people because it knows all the harm it has caused them. They are afraid of our message,” he said.

He also said that security forces had turned the NUP headquarters “into a military barracks” and denounced that several senior coalition officials had been arrested “in a violent manner.” “They have blocked the roads leading to the offices because they are afraid of the people. When we lose the fear we have of them, they will lose their power over us,” he concluded.

Museveni, who has been in office since 1996, won a sixth term in January 2021 in an election that Kyagulanyi said was fraudulent, amid what critics say is an increase in repression and his authoritarian drift at the helm of the African country.

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