(Bloomberg) -- Ugandan police detained several protesters marching in the capital against alleged corruption in the nation’s parliament.
At least 20 people were arrested after they joined a demonstration to call for the resignation of the speaker of Uganda’s parliament, Anita Among, for alleged graft, according to a lawyer representing the organizers. The US and the UK sanctioned Among and other Ugandan public officials earlier this year for their involvement in corruption.
Ugandan media showed police clad in riot gear surrounding small groups of protesters in the capital, Kampala, and apprehending them. In one instance, a handful of young people seated on the tarmac chanting “Anita Must Resign” were dragged into a police vehicle.
The security authority’s response is “an illegal, unnecessary, unconstitutional and disproportionate violation of the right to peaceful protest,” according to Eron Kiiza, a lawyer for the organizers.
The police had banned Tuesday’s march, citing concerns about the “potential for disorder.” President Yoweri Museveni warned at the weekend against any demonstrations, saying that anti-government activists are “playing with fire. We cannot allow you to disturb us.”
The demonstrations echo similar protests in Kenya, where nationwide protests erupted in mid-June calling for for better governance and an end to state corruption.
Ugandan authorities last month arrested at least five lawmakers over alleged graft after Museveni said the legislature was teeming with corrupt politicians. In June, the president refused to assent the budget, saying some lawmakers had tampered with the document to allocate their constituencies more funds.
Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known by the stage name Bobi Wine, said he backed the protests although his party didn’t organize them.
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