Summary:
- Under the hashtag #March2Parliament, demonstrators demanded the resignation of Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and four other members of parliament who recently shared an award of $460,000 for “public service.”
KISORO: The Kisoro District National Unity Platform (NUP) chairperson, Laban Sibomana, has called for the reconciliation of Ugandan youth activists who were arrested by police and army on Tuesday while protesting against corruption at the parliament.
Under the hashtag #March2Parliament, demonstrators demanded the resignation of Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and four other members of parliament who recently shared an award of $460,000 for “public service.” They also called for an audit of legislators’ income.
The protest resulted in over 60 unarmed, placard-wielding protestors being thrown into police vans. Among the arrested were a prominent TV and radio presenter and three young protest leaders. They were quickly brought before the courts and remanded into custody on charges, including being a “common nuisance.”
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for almost four decades, had warned over the weekend that the demonstrators were “playing with fire.” Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke stated that the authorities would not allow any demonstration that threatened Uganda’s “peace and security.”
Now, Sibomana is urging the police and Ugandan magistrate courts to reconcile with the protesters, emphasizing that corruption will not end in the country otherwise.
CUE IN LABAN…..ON CORRUPTION……RR//.
