Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said security forces were besieging his party headquarters on Monday, on the eve of a planned anti-corruption march that has been banned by the authorities.
The action comes two days after President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly four decades, warned that Ugandans planning to take to the streets on Tuesday were “playing with fire”.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, told AFP that the headquarters of his National Unity Platform (NUP) in Kavule, a suburb of the Ugandan capital Kampala, was surrounded.
“Our headquarters are under siege by heavily armed police and the military. This was expected by the regime but we are not giving up on the struggle to liberate Uganda,” he said.
Ugandan authorities have frequently cracked down on the NUP and Wine, a popstar turned politician who challenged Museveni unsuccessfully in the last elections in 2021.
“As Ugandans march to parliament to protest tomorrow, they should be aware that the regime is ready to shed their blood to stay in power but this should not scare anyone,” Wine added.
“We want a country where we all belong not for the few in power.”
‘Anarchic approach’
On Saturday, Ugandan police said they had informed organisers that they would not permit Tuesday’s march, which has been organised on social media by young Ugandans with the hashtag #StopCorruption.
“Some elements have been planning illegal demonstrations, riots,” Museveni said in a televised address later that day.
“You are playing with fire.”
The anti-graft movement in Uganda has taken inspiration from anti-government demonstrations that have shaken neighbouring Kenya for more than a month, led largely by young Gen-Z Kenyans.
Ugandan police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said on Monday that the force was seeking to dissuade protest organisers from taking “what we see as a potentially anarchic approach”.
“We reiterate our position that we shall not tolerate disorderly conduct.”
Earlier this year, the United States and Britain imposed sanctions on several Ugandan officials including parliamentary speaker Anita Among over alleged corruption.
The NGO Transparency International ranks Uganda low on its corruption perceptions index, at 141 out of 180 countries.
The Kenyan protests began as peaceful rallies against controversial tax hikes but turned deadly on occasion, and spiralled into a wider anti-government campaign.
Activists are now calling for President William Ruto to resign and are 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.
