Uganda police arrest more anti-graft protesters

Kampala

Ugandan police detained several people in the capital Kampala on Thursday, July 25, during a second day of anti-corruption protests that are demanding the resignation of the parliament speaker, footage broadcast by local media showed.

Drawing inspiration from weeks of youth-led protests in neighbouring Kenya that forced the president there to withdraw proposed tax hikes, young Ugandans began demonstrating this week against alleged graft by elected leaders.

The police quickly shut down a planned march to parliament on Tuesday. They arrested at least 73 young protesters, according to Chapter Four Uganda, an organisation providing legal services to those detained.

On Thursday, more demonstrators took to the streets, according to video posted on X by the Daily Monitor newspaper. The footage showed police in riot gear forcing several people into the back of a truck as they shouted protest slogans.

Most of those detained appeared to be young adults.

Footage broadcast by NTV Uganda showed about a dozen young people marching with signs that said, "The Corrupt are Messing with a Wrong Generation" and "This is our 1986", a reference to when President Yoweri Museveni overthrew a repressive government.

Reached for comment, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke referred Reuters to comments on Monday in which he said protests had been banned because they would be hijacked by people looking to loot and vandalise.

Ugandan and Kenyan activists have used audio forums on X as the main platform for organising their protests.

In one such forum on Thursday, activists encouraged Ugandans to take to the streets but acknowledged the challenge of mobilising in a country where anti-government demonstrations routinely draw forceful police crackdowns.

"You want it done today? Get out of your house ... Be the soldier for this anti-corruption fight," said one speaker identified only by their X handle.

The protesters' demands include the resignation of parliament speaker Anita Among, who was sanctioned this year by the United States and Britain for alleged involvement in corruption.

Among has denied all allegations of graft and says she is being targeted by Western governments for her role pushing through harsh anti-LGBTQ legislation last year.

Museveni, who warned over the weekend that protesters would be "playing with fire", has regularly faced criticism from domestic opponents and foreign governments for cracking down on dissent and failing to address corruption.

Museveni has denied those accusations and said that those responsible for graft are prosecuted when sufficient evidence exists.

The Ugandan protesters have borrowed slogans from their counterparts in Kenya, where more than 50 people have been killed in six weeks of protests, characterising themselves as "fearless" and "leaderless".