Ugandan protesters who plan to hold a banned anti-corruption march on Tuesday are “playing with fire,” the country’s president has warned.
“Some elements have been planning illegal demonstrations, riots,” President Yoweri Museveni said in a televised speech late Saturday.
Since 1986, Museveni has had unrivalled power in East Africa.
He added that the protesters included “elements working for foreign interests” but did not elaborate.
Earlier on Saturday, Ugandan police informed organisers that they would not permit the planned protest in Kampala, citing intelligence that “some elements were trying to take advantage of the demonstration to cause chaos in the country.”
“Demonstrations can only be permitted under our mandate if they do not cause public disorder or disrupt the lives of lawful citizens,” Ugandan police operations director Frank Mwesigwa told reporters.
Despite this, the protest organisers promised to continue with the event. “We don’t need police permission to hold a peaceful demonstration,” said Louez Aloikin Opolose, one of the major protest organisers. “It is our constitutional right.”
The demonstrators plan to march past Parliament, which they accuse of allowing corruption. “Our starting point in fighting corruption is parliament…” and the demonstration continues regardless of what the cops say,” stated protester Shamim Nambasa.
Transparency International ranks Uganda low on its corruption perceptions index, placing it at 141 out of 180 countries, with the least corrupt countries ranking highest.
The anti-corruption protesters have been closely monitoring the often deadly demonstrations that have rocked neighboring Kenya for over a month. Initially peaceful rallies against controversial tax hikes in Kenya have evolved into a broader anti-government campaign, with activists demanding action against corruption and alleged police brutality.
According to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, at least 50 people have been killed and 413 injured since the demonstrations began on June 18.