When lawmakers return from a month-long recess this workweek, it seems not just possible but perhaps inevitable that a fortified House will await them. A march to Parliament by a section of Ugandan youth has been scheduled to coincide with the resumption of Parliament business on Tuesday.
The leaders of the protest have made it clear that they intend to convey the frustration and helplessness of Ugandan youth in the face of rampant corruption. With scores of its lawmakers grappling with corruption-related charges, the 11th Parliament has become the totemic face of a vice that incapacitates the country’s youth in more ways than one.
“Power belongs to the people and these people can exercise this power, ask their leaders for accountability,” Praise Aloikin Opolose, one of the leaders of the protest, told journalists after notifying the police about their intentions on Thursday. “Our Constitution goes ahead to say citizens have the duty to stand up and hold their leaders accountable in issues to deal with corruption either individually or a collective group of people.”
Before Thursday, the police had accused the protest organisers of being reticent on the details of the march to Parliament. Kituuma Rusoke, the Force’s spokesperson, decried “the lack of transparency and potential for disorder” during a media briefing on Monday.
Impasse
After notifying the Force of their intention to stage a protest, the organisers of the march to Parliament were convinced that the constancy of their message had smoothed over any cracks.
“In our meeting, they didn’t say we are doing anything illegal. Actually, they acknowledged that it is our constitutional right as Ugandans to go out to peacefully protest,” Cynthia Nakato, another face of the march to Parliament, said after the Thursday interface with the police, adding, “Their only concern was the security concern, which they need to ensure that on that day everyone is protected and is safe.”
Yet with the fading of afternoon into evening on Thursday came the police’s swift response. It was not in the affirmative. The Force could not see or perhaps refuse to see, the need to stage the march to Parliament. More than anything, it was stronger than ever in the conviction that a protest would thread through the capital with sinister repercussions.
“Uganda Police Force has credible intelligence that some elements want to use this opportunity to disrupt public order and incite violence,” Mr Frank Mwesigwa, the director of operations service, disclosed in a written response to the protest leaders, adding, rather ominously, “Uganda Police shall not allow any form of demonstrations in crowded cities and towns to disrupt lawful activities.”
Ms Opolose roundly dismissed the statement as “ambiguous and ill-minded.” She added that the reflex by the Force to disarm “aggrieved Ugandans” by labelling them as “disorderly and plotting […] anarchy” was predictable. She was not the only one to hold that the statement was an outrage that deserved to be condemned. Busingye Kabumba, a don at the law school of Makerere University, in an X post, said the “reckless, unlawful, arrogant and—above all—unconstitutional statement” was “not worth the paper it is written on.”
Out of touch?
The Force’s unsolicited advice to disgruntled Ugandans “to exploit non-antagonistic approaches to express your dissatisfaction” chimes with an op-ed piece the director of communications and public affairs at Parliament authored for this newspaper on Wednesday. Mr Chris Obore disabused disgruntled Ugandans of addressing issues by way of “profanity and or self-righteousness.” He instead proffers “in-depth reflection and logical interpretation.”
The op-ed piece offers remarkable insight into power relations between rulers and the ruled in postcolonial Uganda. Mr Obore is almost relentless in both his advice and criticism of the ruled setting their voice against what is viewed as an unaccommodating obstacle.
“Africa is replete with examples of a small group of self-righteous activists arrogating themselves the duty to be society’s conscience by sowing anarchy, then thereafter leaving the very citizens they initially claimed to be fighting for, to live in desperate, destitute conditions as they lounge in global capitals with the tag of political exiles,” he wrote.
Observers, however, contend that it would be disingenuous to wish away the outrage of Uganda’s young population. The tale of the tape as seen through the lens of the recently conducted census tells its own story. Preliminary results indicate that 50.5 percent of the country’s population is aged anywhere between zero to 17 years.
Elsewhere, those aged between 18 and 30 constitute an equally sizeable 22.7 percent of the country’s population. Yet the median age of President Museveni’s Cabinet (full ministers) is 61 years. A datapoint from the 2024 census shows that such older persons aged 60 and above make up a tiny sliver of the population. Five percent to be precise.
The Cabinet’s median age should not be looked at as if it is a statistical rounding error. The median age of the people who occupy the top six echelons of Uganda’s national order of precedence is 53, with Mr Museveni—a soon-to-be octogenarian—the oldest. Claims of being out of touch on account of the yawning chasm between an old leadership and a young population that is largely unemployed cannot be dismissed as gross oversimplifications.
What gives?
Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, which covered 22,800 respondents in 44 countries, offers a measure of the beating heart of the two generations. Both are gravely concerned about the cost of living crisis (Gen Zs at 34 percent and millennials at 40 percent) that has forced them to miss out on several milestones. Other top concerns for the Gen Zs are unemployment (21 percent); climate change (21 percent); mental health of my generation (19 percent); and crime/personal safety (17 percent). The other top concerns for the millennials are climate change (23 percent); crime/personal safety (19 percent); healthcare/disease prevention (19 percent); and unemployment (18 percent).
Yet when Vanessa Nakate, 27, questions the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) project on account of the simply expressed fact that “we cannot drink oil”, generations that will not bear the brunt of decisions made in the here and now are quick to dismiss her visceral fears.
“Ugandans are woken to discern right and wrong,” George V Otieno, one of the faces of the march to Parliament recently posted to his X followers, adding that “no amount of intimidation and propaganda will take us off course.”
On Thursday, Mr Otieno told journalists thus: “We want to continue to encourage Ugandans to peacefully assemble themselves and wait for the 23rd [of July] and join us.” The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has since offered unstinting support, pointing to the Mwanga Kivumbi v Attorney General court ruling, where the court concluded that the powers given to the Inspector General of Police to prohibit the convening of assemblies or processions run counter to Article 29(1) (d) of the Constitution.
At the launch of the State of the Rule of Law Second Quarterly Report on Friday, Bernard Oundo, the Uganda Law Society president, did not mince his words. He, in no uncertain terms, said the police’s role is not to prohibit but rather to regulate assemblies.
“The issues of permission, the issue of suspicions that if it’s political, there will be a breach of peace, the courts were very clear that if you suspect that there will [be a] breach of peace, you go and protect,” Mr Oundo said.
It remains to be seen what the outcome will be when the rubber hits the road on Tuesday.
Demographics
2024 Census demographics
Children (0-17 years): 50.5%
Youth (18-30 years): 22.7%
Older persons (60+ years): 5.0%
Working age population (14-64 years): 55.6%
National Order of Precedence
President: Yoweri Museveni (79)
Vice President: Jessica Alupo (50)
Speaker: Anita Among (50)
Chief Justice (CJ): Alfonse Owiny-Dollo (68)
Deputy Speaker: Thomas Tayebwa (43)
Deputy CJ: Richard Buteera (69)
Median age: 52.6 years
Full Cabinet ministers
Prime Minister: Robinah Nabbanja (54)
First Deputy Prime Minister, EAC Affairs minister: Rebecca A. Kadaga (68)
Second Deputy Prime Minister: Moses Ali (85)
Third Deputy Prime Minister, Minister without Portfolio: Rukia Nakadama Isanga (54)
Education and Sports minister: Janet Kataaha Museveni (76)
Public Service minister: Wilson Muruli Mukasa (72)
Trade, Industry and Cooperatives minister: Francis Mwebesa (76)
Internal Affairs minister: Kahinda Otafiire (73)
Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries minister: Frank Kagyigyi Tumwebaze (48)
Finance, Planning and Economic Development minister: Matia Kasaija (80)
Foreign Affairs minister: Abubaker Jeje Odongo (73)
Health minister: Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero (56)
Works and Transport minister: Edward Katumba Wamala (67)
Lands, Housing and Urban Development minister: Judith Nabakooba (46)
Water and Environment minister: Sam Mangusho Cheptoris (74)
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister: Norbert Mao (57)
Defence and Veteran Affairs minister: Jacob Marksons Oboth (53)
Local Government minister: Raphael Magyezi (63)
Karamoja Affairs minister: Peter Teko Lokeris (77)
Energy and Mineral Development minister: Ruth Ssentamu Nankabirwa (58)
ICT and National Guidance minister: Dr Chris Baryomunsi (54)
OPM (General Duties) minister: Justine Kasule Lumumba (51)
OPM (Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees) minister: Hilary Obolaker Onek (76)
Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities minister: Tom R. Butime (76)
Office of the President (Presidency) minister: Milly Babirye Babalanda (54)
Office of the President (Security) minister: Jim Katugugu Muhwezi (73)
Office of the President (Science, Tech & Innovation) minister: Dr Monicah Musenero (59)
Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs minister: Minsa Kabanda
Gender, Labour and Social Development minister: Betty Ongom Amongi (48)
Attorney General: Kiryowa Kiwanuka (52)
Government Chief Whip: Denis Hamson Obua (44)
Median age: 61
