Dozens Remanded in Uganda as Citizens Defy Ban on Anti-Corruption Protests

The protests, tagged “March 2 Parliament,” was partly organized for citizens to demand the resignation of parliament speaker Anitah Among, who’s been widely accused of mismanagement of funds and irregular staff recruitment. To the protesters, the allegations against Among, which she has constantly refused to address, is emblematic of the deep-seeded corruption by government officials and politicians.

Taking inspiration from the Kenyan protests of the last couple of weeks, calls for demonstrations against corruption intensified amongst Ugandan youth, with Tuesday, July 23, chosen as the date for the protests. Subsequently, Uganda’s president of almost 40 years, Yoweri Museveni, condemned the proposed action last weekend, saying that the protesters were “playing with fire.”

In a three-hour long address on local television, Museveni claimed the protests were being sponsored by Western imperialists and that they could lead to destruction. “What right… do you have to seek to generate chaotic behavior?… We are busy producing… cheap food, other people in other parts of the world are starving… you here want to disturb us. You are playing with fire because we cannot allow you to disturb us…”

Shortly after, the Ugandan Police Force released a statement saying that it would not tolerate disorderly conduct, as the protests “would likely result in significant traffic congestion, disruption of trade, and disturbances to public order.” The protests were reportedly banned, however, many young people and activists took to social media to reiterate their readiness to protest, and went ahead with the demonstrations as planned.

Yesterday, Chapter Four Uganda, a non-governmental organization providing legal services to arrested protesters, said that 73 people had been remanded to prison due to the protests. “In most cases, the accused were produced in court past 5 p.m. and courts declined to hear bail applications on grounds that it was late in the day,” the organization wrote in an X post.

Currently, The Independent puts the number of remanded anti-corruption protesters to 94. The Kampala Capital City Hall Court remanded 25 people to Luzira Prison, while Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court remanded 15 to the same facility. These are in addition to the 54 remanded on Tuesday, and this does not account for the numbers under police custody who are yet to be arraigned in court.

Amidst the arrests, President Museveni released a statement today further condemning the protests, rehashing the same talking points from his address last weekend. He blamed “funding from foreign sources that are always meddling in the internal affairs of Africa,” adding that he would’ve joined the protests, “if it was a patriotic, anti-corruption, peaceful demonstration, co-ordinated with the Police.”

The response of arresting and intimidating protesters with force was expected. A day before the protests, police officers and soldiers were deployed throughout key places in Kampala, while the headquarters of the opposition party, National Unity Platform, was surrounded by armed officers. NUP leader and former presidential candidate Bobi Wine confirmed that several party members were arrested, despite the protests not being planned by his party.

“We support [the protests] with all our might because we are #PeoplePower and we absolutely believe in the Power of the People,” Wine wrote in an X post. “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!,” Wine added.