Uganda charges dozens of anti-graft protesters

Ugandan police officers detain protestors during a rally against what the protesters say are rampant corruption and human rights abuses by the country's rulers in Kampala, Uganda, July 23, 2024. [Reuters]

Dozens of people who joined scattered anti-corruption rallies in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Tuesday in defiance of an official ban have been charged and held behind bars, their lawyers said.

About 60 people, including a prominent TV and radio presenter and three young protest leaders, were hurriedly brought before the courts and remanded into custody on charges including being a "common nuisance," they said.

President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African country with an iron fist for almost four decades, had warned over the weekend that the demonstrators were "playing with fire."

Riot police were out in force across Kampala, manning roadblocks especially near the business district, while officers sealed off roads to parliament.

Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke had said the authorities would not allow any demonstration that threatened Uganda's "peace and security."

The call to action over corruption was organized by young Ugandans online, with colorful posters urging people to march on parliament, drawing inspiration from neighboring Kenya's mostly Gen-Z-led anti-government protests.

Graft is a major concern in Uganda, with several high-profile scandals involving public officials, and the country is ranked a lowly 141 out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption index.

"We are tired of corruption," protester Samson Kiriya shouted from between the bars of a police van as he was arrested.

About 60 people who were detained during the rallies were brought before the courts in separate hearings, their lawyers said.

They included well-known television and radio presenter Faiza Salima as well as a social media influencer and a doctor, lawyer Ashraf Kwezi told AFP.

"The three were charged with a flimsy offense of being a common nuisance ... and disorderly after they participated in the protest today, but they denied the charges," he said.

Three protest organizers identified as George Victor Otieno, Kennedy Ndyamuhaki and Aloikin Praise Opoloje were arrested as they marched to parliament and have also been charged.

Bernard Oundo, president of the Uganda Law Society, told AFP that 50 people were charged at one hearing in a Kampala court and are to reappear between July 30 and Aug. 8.

Another five were charged in a separate hearing at another court, their lawyer, Patience Muwanguzi, said.

"This was a rushed trial. They were arrested and taken to court in a very short time and remanded to prison without securing them bail," she told AFP. "We will ensure these people receive justice."

Human Rights Watch Uganda researcher Oryem Nyeko condemned the multiple arrests and said they were "a reflection of where Uganda is at the moment as far as respect for those rights is concerned."

On the eve of the rally, Ugandan authorities besieged the headquarters of the opposition National Unity Platform of former presidential candidate Bobi Wine and arrested three of his party's MPs.

A heavy police presence remained in place around the offices in a Kampala suburb on Tuesday, an AFP journalist said.

"Salutations to all who have courageously marched and are still marching against corruption and misrule - even in the face of very brutal actions by the military and police!" Wine posted on X. His real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.

Ugandan authorities have frequently cracked down on the NUP and Wine, a popstar turned politician who challenged Museveni unsuccessfully in the last elections in 2021.

Corruption is endemic in Uganda, where several high-profile figures have recently come under the spotlight in graft scandals.

Earlier this year, the United States and Britain sanctioned several Ugandan officials including parliament speaker Anita Among and three former or current ministers for alleged involvement in corruption.

The ministers are on trial accused of stealing iron sheets destined for the poor under a government-funded project and redirecting them to politicians and their families, but no charges have been laid against the speaker.

Four legislators from Uganda's ruling party and two senior civil servants are also in custody for allegedly embezzling large sums of money meant to compensate farmers who lost property during the 1980s bush war that brought Museveni to power.