Police arrest one of the suspects during the protest.
Kampala, July 23 – Police in Uganda’s capital have detained at least 45 people, most of them youthful female Makerere University students, after anti-corruption protests erupted in the city.
The demonstrators, partially inspired by recent youth-led protests in Kenya, had mobilised online to demand the resignation of Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, implicated in a social media corruption exposé, and a cut to the hefty salaries of Uganda’s MPs.
Officers swiftly moved in, breaking up the march and charging dozens with the colonial-era “common nuisance” offence. Among those seized was student activist Praise Aloikin, who had warned a day earlier that the group fully expected government resistance but hoped to normalise peaceful protest in Uganda.
Behind the scenes, Immaculate Ninsiima – a Lady Cranes national rugby player and captain of Makerere University’s Ewes women’s rugby team – is alleged to have bankrolled and coordinated the action while fellow students took to the streets. She initially escaped the mass arrests, but deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire now says a manhunt is underway for Ninsiima and other suspected organisers still at large. Police, who claim they tried to “dissuade the organisers” in a July 18 meeting and invoked deadly scenes from Kenya to scare them off, have since picked up more youths, including three who attempted to hold a press conference.
Rights groups say the sweeping arrests and charges are the latest sign of Uganda’s intolerance for dissent and a blatant violation of constitutional guarantees to free speech and peaceful assembly, urging authorities to drop the cases and heed the protesters’ concerns.
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