Staff Reporter
Laban Sibomana, the Kisoro District National Unity Platform (NUP) chairperson, has called for reconciliation between Ugandan youth activists and the authorities following their arrest during a protest against corruption at Parliament.
The protest, organized under the hashtag #March2Parliament, demanded the resignation of Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and four other MPs who recently received a $460,000 award for “public service.” Demonstrators also called for an audit of legislators’ incomes.
During the protest, over 60 unarmed, placard-carrying protesters were detained by police and military personnel. Among those arrested were a well-known TV and radio presenter and three young protest leaders. They were promptly brought before the courts and remanded in custody on charges including “common nuisance.”
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for nearly four decades, had warned the protesters over the weekend that they were “playing with fire.” Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke stated that the authorities would not permit any demonstrations that could jeopardize Uganda’s “peace and security.”
Sibomana is now urging the police and Ugandan magistrate courts to reconcile with the protesters, stressing that addressing corruption effectively will not be possible without such reconciliation.
