Ugandan protesters told AFP they would press ahead with an anti-corruption march in the capital Kampala planned for Tuesday despite police banning the demonstration, citing the risk of “chaos”.
The East African country has been ruled with an iron fist by President Yoweri Museveni since 1986.
Earlier Saturday, Ugandan police had informed organisers it would not permit the protest as authorities had intelligence that “some elements were trying to take advantage of the demonstration to cause chaos in the country”.
“Demonstrations can only be allowed under our mandate as long as they are not causing public disorder and disrupting lives of lawful citizens,” Ugandan police operations director Frank Mwesigwa told AFP.
The organisers vowed to press on with the demonstration regardless.
“We don’t need police permission to carry out a peaceful demonstration,” one of the main protest leaders, Louez Aloikin Opolose, told AFP on Saturday. “It is our constitutional right.”
The protesters hope to take the march past parliament, which they accuse of tolerating corruption.
“Our starting point in the fight against corruption is parliament… and the demonstration is on irrespective of what police is saying,” protester Shamim Nambasa said.
The NGO Transparency International ranks Uganda low on its corruption perceptions index. With the least corrupt countries ranking highest, Uganda comes in at 141 on the list of 180 countries.
The anti-corruption protesters took inspiration from the sometimes deadly demonstrations that have shaken neighbouring Kenya for more than a month.
The Kenyan protests, beginning as peaceful rallies against controversial tax hikes, turned into a wider anti-government campaign, with disgruntled activists also seeking action against corruption and alleged police brutality.
At least 50 people have been killed and 413 injured since the demonstrations began on June 18, according to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
AFP