Uganda's Gen Z warned against march to Parliament

President Yoweri Museveni has warned Ugandans against marching to Parliament.

Weeks after Kenyan protesters made their way to Parliament and vandalized property, their counterparts in Uganda announced a plan to ‘occupy’ their own Parliament. However, President Yoweri Museveni warned them.

The march, slated for July 23, 2024, in Kampala, is meant to address several issues, key among them being corruption. The rest of the demands are:

• Resignation of Speaker Anita Annet Among
• Resignation of the four backbench commissioners
• Resignation of MPs implicated in corruption cases
• Auditing the Lifestyle of MPs
• Reduction of salaries and allowances of MPs
• Allow Ugandans to peacefully assemble without interference

The country’s youth have openly shared their frustration with the current regime on social media, but Museveni asked them to focus on more productive activities. He further blamed the opposition and foreigners for trying to destabilize the country by inciting chaos.

“Some elements, some from the opposition are always working with foreigners to ferment chaos in Uganda. These people are unfair and should check themselves or we will have no alternative but to check them,” said Museveni over the weekend. Adding: “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.”

As of Tuesday noon, some youthful protesters had begun chanting anti-corruption songs in Kampala streets, but heavy police presence restricted their movement.

According to Daily Monitor, NTV Uganda, and KFM Radio, host Faiza Fabz was arrested alongside other influencers as they prepared to join the protests. The country’s parliament was also placed under heavy security, and police officers cordoned off roads leading to the premises.

Bobi Wine

Elsewhere, Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine on Monday accused police of arresting some of his party officials and turning the offices of the National Unity Platform (NUP) into a ‘military barracks’.

Through X, he said the protests were not organized by his party, but they were in full support of the move ‘by the people’.

“For the record, the 23rd July #March2Parliament protests are not organized by @NUP_Ug. But we support them with all our might because we are #PeoplePower and we absolutely believe in the Power of the People.

Bobi Wine [X/BobiWine]

“We support every effort to protest against injustice, corruption, and misrule. The effort by the regime to clamp down and make it look like an NUP initiative is meant to weaken it because they want to make it appear like a partisan matter. The #AntiCorruptionProtests as we know them are organized by the young people of Uganda regardless of their age, religion, tribe, or political affiliation! The criminal regime and its antics will certainly fail!!” wrote Bobi Wine.

Online, the conversation gathered pace on X Space, and several media personalities voiced their support for the protests. Lucky Mbabazi urged all those who intended to be part of the march to wear comfortable shoes, carry water, and wear a face mask as they exercised their democratic right.

The protests in Kenya bore fruit to some extent—they pushed President William Ruto to drop the controversial Finance Bill 2024, and he later fired the entire cabinet in a bid to start afresh. The President was also part of an X-Space discussion where he was put to task about several issues including corruption, police brutality, accountability, and foreign trips.

It remains to be seen whether the protests in Uganda will make Museveni budge.

President William Ruto [PPS]