Uganda arrests more than 100 for anti-graft protests in Kampala, police say

Police have confirmed that more than 100 peaceful anti-corruption demonstrators have been detained in less than a week in arrests condemned by observers as a “clampdown on dissent.”

Ugandan authorities accuse detainees of participating in banned anti-graft protests named March to Parliament, which President Museveni claims were “foreign funded to do bad things” in Uganda.

Providing an update on Friday, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said 75 suspects were arrested on the opening day of the youth led March to Parliament protests.

“Of these, 74 were subsequently taken to court, while one remains in police custody,” he noted.

A day before, Kampala grade one magistrate Martin Kirya remanded 3 opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) lawmakers Francis Zaake, Hassan Kirumira and Charles Tebandeke alongside seven dissidents, following clashes during a raid by security forces at the party headquarters in Makerere-Kavule.

According to Rusoke, “police had detained nine individuals including were arrested and charged with common nuisance and traffic regulation violations, all of whom were taken to court.”

On Thursday morning, court in Kampala granted bail to three anti-corruption activists Ruth Nalunkuma, Abigail Kalenda and Dennis Pato, who had been taken in prior to their press conference, following a Wednesday raid by joint security operatives at Hotel Eliana in Kampala.

As protesters returned to the streets on Thursday, 16 people were arrested and at least 13 taken to court while three are still in police custody.

“Overall, 104 individuals have been arrested between July 22-24 with 100 already taken to court,” he said in a statement shared Friday night on X, formerly Twitter.

Activist Agather Atuhaire, who has been one of the protest mobilizers, claims the number of detainees is slightly more than police indicates, expressing fears that many in custody were yet to be accounted for by security forces.

Meanwhile, charge sheets accessed by Monitor show that almost all the more than 100 accused are charged with being a "common nuisance, idle and disorderly.”

Comedian Obed Lubega aka Reign started facing prosecution on Thursday for “attempt to commit hate speech.”

Rusoke now suggests that at least 13 of those detained during the week had prior criminal charges.

On July 25, President Museveni hailed security officers for suppressing the demonstration without bloodshed.

On social media, some of the released suspects have alleged torture and sodomization by security operatives while they were in custody, which police denies.

“We urge that any allegations of individuals assaulted in detention be investigated and perpetrators be held accountable," the US told Uganda on Friday.

As pictures emerged showing activist Nana MwaAfrica nearly stripped during her arrest, amnesty International (USA) chapter late Thursday said: “Heavy-handed tactics used by the Ugandan government to stifle and silence peaceful protestors manifest a clampdown on dissent."

Unchecked endemic graft by high-profile Ugandans remains a nationwide distress with the East African nation currently positioned 141 out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption index.