Police in Kampala have arrested 13 youth for allegedly staging a protest against what they described as government failure to fight corruption in Uganda.
The activists who are currently detained at Central Police Station in Kampala were intercepted by police along Kampala road and Entebbe road on Monday.
Dressed in black attires and armed with placards, the activists under the auspices of Black Monday were arrested during their anti-corruption campaign termed as “Real anti-corruption walk.”
The activists who were divided into different groups among them; Red Top, The Alternatives and Poor Youth claimed government has not done enough to fight the vice.
They declared every Monday as a day for protesting and raising awareness about the need to kick out corruption which has eaten into the country’s national budget.
“We have arrested two groups for inciting violence. They have been detained as investigations go on,” said Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police Luke Owoyesigyire said.
On December 4 last year, President Museveni led Ugandans in an anti-corruption walk which was shunned by majority of his cabinet ministers.
Mr Museveni said the walk, in which a few ministers and a handful of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party officials took part, was aimed at intensifying the fight against the vice.
The walk, organised by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity, attracted a number of dignitaries, including outgoing Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, heads of diplomatic missions and heads of government agencies.
Uganda loses hundreds of billions of shillings to corruption.
The country’s widespread corruption is highlighted in its poor ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index as well as in the recent Africa edition of the Global Corruption Barometer.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Jacob Oulanyah, said the corrupt are glorified and worshiped, thus escalating the vice.
He said corruption can only be overcome with change of attitude and reorganisation of institutions.
By Daily Monitor
