Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has warned protesters they will be “playing with fire” if they go ahead with plans to hold an anti-corruption march to parliament on Tuesday.
Young Ugandans have been organizing a march on social media to demand an end to corruption in the government.
They were partly inspired by their counterparts in neighboring Kenya, who organized mass demonstrations that forced President William Ruto to abandon plans to raise taxes. Since then, the protests have turned into calls for his resignation.
In a televised speech, Museveni warned Ugandan organizers that their planned protest would not be tolerated.
“We are busy producing wealth… and you here want to disturb us. You are playing with fire because we cannot allow you to disturb us,” he said.
Museveni is accused by his critics of ruling Uganda with an iron fist since taking power in 1986, but his supporters praise him for maintaining stability in the East African state.
The president also accused some of the protest organizers of “always working with foreigners” to cause chaos in Uganda. He did not give further details.
Police had previously announced that they had refused to give permission for the march to take place when parliament opened on Tuesday.
One of the main protest leaders told the AFP news agency that they would go ahead.
“We don’t need permission from the police to hold a peaceful demonstration. It’s our constitutional right,” Louez Aloikin Opolose was quoted as saying.
The UK and US governments imposed sanctions on Ugandan parliament speaker Anita Annet Among earlier this year after she was accused of corruption.
She denied any wrongdoing.
The sanctions prevent her from traveling to the UK and the US. The UK also said it would impose an asset freeze on him.
The UK has applied similar sanctions to two government ministers who were fired by Museveni after they were also accused of corruption.
Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu have been charged in court over a scandal involving the theft of thousands of metal tiles destined for vulnerable communities in the north-east region of Karamoja.
Both denied the accusations.
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