PREVIEW
Bobi Wine says security forces besieged his party’s headquarters ahead of anti-government demonstrations
The decision by the Ugandan state to seal off the headquarters of Bobi Wine’s National Unity Party (NUP) on 22 July, ahead of a major planned anti-corruption demonstration, betrays its fears about youth-driven protests taking root.
Wine says that the protests, which will include a march on the parliament buildings in Kampala, similar to the anti-Finance Bill protests in Nairobi on 25 June, have been organised by young Ugandans and not by the NUP but that they do have his party’s support.
‘We support them with all our might because we are #PeoplePower and we absolutely believe in the Power of the People,’ Wine posted on X, adding, ‘We support every effort to protest against injustice, corruption and misrule.’
He said, ‘The effort by the regime to clamp down and make it look like an NUP initiative is meant to weaken it because they want to make it appear like a partisan matter.’
A police spokesperson described it as a precautionary move ahead of anti-government protests planned for 23 July.
Since a wave of countrywide protests organised online by youth activists forced President William Ruto to abandon last week a controversial Finance Bill and taxes worth US$2.7 billion and then dismiss his ministerial team, African governments across the continent have been watching anxiously for similar popular uprisings.
The protests, which are due to coincide with a major demonstration in Nairobi, could be the first regional test following the success of the Generation Z movement in Kenya.
As in Kenya, the protests are focusing on corruption and poor governance by President Yoweri Museveni’s government and the political elite.
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