Ugandan President Museveni, afraid of ‘Kenyan treatment’, threatens youths are “playing with fire” if they protest
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, scared of the way young protesters humbled President William Ruto in neigbouring Kenya, has warned copycat protesters in his own country will be “playing with fire” if they press ahead with plans to stage an anti-corruption march to parliament on Tuesday July 23.
If the planned protests in Uganda and Nigeria go ahead, on top of the ongoing one in Kenya, the agitation will be similar to the Arab Spring which began in Tunisia in 2010 in response to corruption and economic stagnation.
From Tunisia, the protests spread to five other countries – Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain – where a few leaders were toppled for encouraging corruption.
Kenyan youths have been inspired by their counterparts in Kenya in the African East coast, who organised mass demonstrations that forced Ruto to drop plans to increase taxes. The protests have since morphed into calls for his resignation.
Young Ugandans have been organising their protest also on social media to demand an end to corruption in government, just like youths in Nigeria in the West coast are warming up for their “Endbadgovernance” march for 10 days beginning August 1, with President Bola Tinubu scrambling and the police warning against the protest.
In a televised address, Museveni warned the Ugandan organisers that their planned protest would not be tolerated, according to reporting by the BBC.
“We are busy producing wealth … and you here want to disturb us. You are playing with fire because we cannot allow you to disturb us,” he said.
Museveni is accused by his critics of ruling Uganda with an iron hand since taking power in 1986, but his supporters praise him for maintaining stability.
He also accused some of the protest organisers of “always working with foreigners” to cause chaos in Uganda. He did not elaborate.
Police had earlier announced that they had refused to give permission for the march to take place.
But one of the main protest leaders told AFP they would go ahead with it.
“We don’t need police permission to carry out a peaceful demonstration. It is our constitutional right,” Louez Aloikin Opolose was quoted as saying.
Earlier this year, the United Kingdom and United States governments imposed sanctions on Uganda’s parliamentary speaker, Anita Annet Among, after she was accused of corruption.
She has denied any wrongdoing.
The sanctions bar her from travelling to the UK and the US. The UK also said that it would impose an asset freeze on her.
The UK has enforced similar sanctions on two government ministers who were sacked by Museveni after they too were accused of corruption.
Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu have been charged in court over a scandal involving the theft of thousands of metal roofing sheets that were intended for vulnerable communities in the north-eastern Karamoja region.
Both have denied the charges.
President Ruto in Kenya has also called for an end to the protests that have hit his government, saying: “Enough is enough.”
The protests are the biggest in Kenya since Ruto took office after winning elections in 2022.
Activists have planned further demonstrations for Tuesday to demand his resignation and for an end to what they call bad governance.
Addressing a rally in western Bomet County, Ruto said the protest organisers could not remain “anonymous”, and should “step forward and tell us what is this violence going to achieve.”
Some protesters stormed parliament last month setting part of it on fire and stealing the mace, the symbol of the legislature’s authority.
Protest organisers say their demonstrations have largely been peaceful.
They accuse the police and the military of responding with brute force, and killing peaceful protesters.
At least 50 protesters have been killed and 413 injured since the protests started on 18 June, according to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Kenya’s main opposition leader Raila Odinga has expressed solidarity with the protesters, saying there had to be justice for victims before any talks with the government could take place.
Odinga’s position could undermine Ruto’s attempt to include members of the opposition in his cabinet – a move which he hopes will help end the youth-led protests.
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