MARCH TO PARLIAMENT: Youth Protesters Arrested

On the day of planned protests in Uganda, police and sister security agencies in Kampala have arrested youth protesters, and security continues to maintain heavy presence on streets leading to Parliament of Uganda. There is also significant deployment of uniformed and plain clothed security operatives around major roads in the capital.

In Downtown Kampala, security officers rounded up a number of youth protesters. The youths were chanting ‘Corruption Must Stop,’ and some donned t-shirts and held placards with wording calling for Speaker Anita Among’s resignation and for a stop to corruption.

Some of the arrested youth protesters included Sylvia Namutyaba, Habib Buwembo, and John Bosco Sserunkuma. After arresting these youth protesters, security operatives detained them at Arua Park Police Post in Kampala.

At Parliament, there is heavy security presence. There is also tight security along streets leading to Parliament building, where protestors are expected to march to in an anti-corruption demo to express their disappointment with reports of gross graft, abuse of office and grand theft by Members of Parliament (MPs).

Parliament has for months been in sharp focus with allegations of grand corruption, especially after the Uganda Parliament Exhibition, an online depiction of the ills at the legislative arm of government with billions in budgetary allocation controlled by the Parliamentary Commission, whose members include the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Leader of Opposition.

Organizers of the march to parliament have for weeks been organizing, largely online, and the tight security and arrests were expected given warnings against the demos which police said would disrupt public order. Police even met with some of the youth organizers of the protests and told them the march to parliament would not be allowed.

As we have reported, Uganda’s police seemed to read from the same script like their Kenyan counterparts, claiming that they had credible intelligence reports that there were plans by bad elements to hijack the march to parliament and calls to occupy streets. (See related reporting Here).

And when President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation on Saturday evening, he made clear what awaited those who would dare protest against corruption by marching to Parliament or occupying streets: they would be playing with fire. (See Details Here).