Ugandan police detain dozens in anti-corruption protest | Protest News

At least 45 people have been detained in Kampala, according to human rights group Chapters for Uganda.

Human rights groups say police have detained dozens of people taking part in banned anti-corruption protests in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

Police and military were deployed heavily in several areas of Kampala where small protests had gathered on Tuesday.

The protesters waved placards and chanted slogans denouncing corruption. One wore a T-shirt that read: “The speaker must resign.”

At least 45 people were detained by security forces during the crackdown, according to human rights group Chapter Four Uganda, which provides legal services to detainees.

Police spokesman Kituuma Lusoke said authorities “will not allow protests that threaten the peace and security of the country”.

Over the weekend, President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African nation for nearly 40 years, warned that protesters were “playing with fire”.

Several ruling party lawmakers have been accused of corruption, and protesters are demanding the resignation of Parliament Speaker Anita Among after she was sanctioned by Britain in June over a bribery scandal.

Tuesday’s protest was organized by Ugandan youth on social media with the hashtag #StopCorruption. According to the latest census data, about 15 million of the country’s 45 million people are under the age of 35.

“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 capital of potholes, because of corruption,” he told AFP.

At least five of those detained have been charged and held until July 30. They are also accused of being a “public nuisance” and “lazily disruptive and disorderly,” according to an indictment seen by Reuters.

Orem Nyeko, Uganda researcher at Human Rights Watch, condemned the arrests, saying they were “a reflection of where Uganda currently stands when it comes to respect for these rights.”

Opposition leaders and human rights activists have accused Museveni of failing to prosecute corrupt senior officials with political allegiances or ties to him.

Museveni has repeatedly denied allegations that he condones corruption and says culprits, including lawmakers and ministers, will be prosecuted whenever there is sufficient evidence.

There was a large police presence in downtown Kampala on Tuesday. Police in riot gear were deployed to blockade roads, especially near the city’s commercial districts, and some in camouflage uniforms blocked the road leading to Uganda’s parliament.

Ugandans with businesses near the parliament also had difficulty getting to their places of business.

“It’s like a war zone,” Edwin Mugisha, who works in Kampala, told Reuters, referring to military patrols.

Despite police repression, protesters said they were steadfast in achieving their goals.

“We came here to prove that the power is not that of the police, but of the constitution,” protester and human rights lawyer Ezra Ruwashande told AFP. “We will not give in until the corrupt are removed.”