At least 45 people have been detained in Kampala, according to Chapter Four Uganda, a human rights group.
Police detained dozens of people taking part in banned anti-corruption protests in Uganda’s capital Kampala, a rights group said.
Police and military deployed heavily in several parts of Kampala, where small groups of protesters gathered on Tuesday.
Protesters waved signs and shouted slogans denouncing corruption. One of them wore a T-shirt saying “President must resign”.
At least 45 people were detained by security personnel during the crackdown, according to Chapter Four Uganda, a human rights group that provides legal services to detainees.
Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said authorities “will not allow a demonstration that puts the peace and security of the country at risk.”
Over the weekend, President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African country for nearly four decades, warned that protesters were “playing with fire.”
Several government MPs face corruption allegations, with protesters calling on the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, to resign after being implicated in a corruption scandal – and sanctioned by the UK in June.
Tuesday’s march was organized on social media with the hashtag #StopCorruption by young Ugandans – around 15 million citizens, out of a population of 45 million, are under the age of 35, according to data from the latest census.
“We are tired of corruption,” protester Samson Kiriya shouted through the bars of a police van as he was arrested on Tuesday.
“Kampala is the capital of potholes. It’s because of corruption,” he told AFP.
At least five of those detained were charged and remanded in custody until July 30. They were also accused of being a “common nuisance” and also of being “idle and disorderly,” according to a charge sheet seen by Reuters.
Human Rights Watch Uganda researcher Oryem Nyeko condemned the arrests and said they were “a reflection of the current situation in Uganda with regard to respect for these rights”.
Opposition leaders and human rights activists have accused Museveni of failing to prosecute corrupt senior officials who are politically loyal or related to him.
Museveni has repeatedly denied that he tolerates corruption and says that whenever there is sufficient evidence, the culprits, including lawmakers and ministers, are prosecuted.
There was a heavy police presence in central Kampala on Tuesday. Roadblocks, especially near the city’s commercial district, were manned by police in riot gear, some wearing camouflage uniforms blocking the roads to Uganda’s Parliament.
Ugandans with businesses close to Parliament also found it difficult to reach their premises.
“It’s like a war zone,” Edwin Mugisha, who works in Kampala, told Reuters, referring to military patrols.
Despite police repression, protesters said they remained steadfast in achieving their objective.
“We are here to prove that it is not the police that have the power, but the constitution,” protester and human rights lawyer Ezra Rwashande told AFP. “We will not give in until the corrupt leave power.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
