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Dozens of people have been detained in the Ugandan capital Kampala after joining scattered anti-corruption protests in defiance of an official ban.<\/p>\n
Lawyers said around 60 people, including a prominent TV presenter and three young protest leaders, were hurriedly brought before courts and remanded in custody following a march on the country’s parliament on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
President Yoweri Museveni<\/a><\/span><\/span>, who has ruled Uganda for almost four decades, had warned before the event<\/a> that protesters were “playing with fire”.<\/p>\n The march was organised on social media amid anger over long-running allegations of corruption involving several high-profile public officials.<\/p>\n The protests were partly inspired by demonstrations last month in neighbouring Kenya<\/a> which forced President William Ruto to drop planned tax rises.<\/p>\n Police previously announced that they had refused to give permission for the march and would not allow any demonstration that threatened Uganda’s “peace and security”.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, riot officers were seen manning roadblocks, while members of the security forces sealed off roads and stood guard around the parliament building.<\/p>\n Pictures showed marchers holding signs that read “Stop corruption” and calling the parliament a “den of thieves”. Another said: “We are peaceful protesters”.<\/p>\n Others showed protesters being manhandled by police and pushed into the back of riot vans.<\/p>\n “We are tired of corruption,” protester Samson Kiriya told AFP news agency through the bars of a van after being arrested.<\/p>\n Those detained included well-known television and radio presenter Faiza Salima as well as three protest organisers – George Victor Otieno, Kennedy Ndyamuhaki and Aloikin Praise Opoloje.<\/p>\n Bernard Oundo, president of the Uganda Law Society, said one hearing saw 50 people charged.<\/p>\n “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,” he said.<\/p>\n “We will ensure these people receive justice.”<\/p>\n On the eve of the march, Uganda’s main opposition leader, Bobi Wine, said security forces had besieged the Kampala headquarters of his National Unity Platform party.<\/p>\n He said some of his party officials had been “violently arrested” and that the offices had been turned into a “military barracks”.<\/p>\n Writing on X<\/a> following the march, Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, 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!<\/p>\n “The cowards have been picking up young people whose only crime is lifting up a placard.”<\/p>\n He added that legal and welfare teams would be made available to those who needed them.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the UK and US imposed sanctions on a number of Ugandan officials, including parliament speaker Anita Among and three former or serving ministers, over alleged involvement in corruption.<\/p>\n Go to <\/em>BBCAfrica.com<\/em><\/a> for more news from the African continent.<\/em><\/p>\n Follow us on Twitter <\/em>@BBCAfrica<\/em><\/a>, on Facebook at <\/em>BBC Africa<\/em><\/a> or on Instagram at <\/em>bbcafrica<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\nYou may also be interested in:<\/h2>\n
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