KAMPALA, UGANDA – Ugandan security forces have encircled the National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters, blocking access to the building, ahead of a planned anti-government rally. The protest, scheduled for Tuesday, aims to highlight alleged corruption and human rights abuses.
NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, claimed that the blockade has prevented people from entering or leaving the premises, with some being detained. “These cowards have turned the National Unity Platform Headquarters into a military barracks,” he wrote on X. Kyagulanyi added that several opposition leaders had been “violently arrested”.
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President Yoweri Museveni accused unnamed “foreigners” of plotting to destabilize the country. “Some elements, some of them from the opposition, are always working with the foreigners to foment chaos in Uganda – riots, illegal demonstrations, illegal and inconsiderate processions, etc. These people … should check themselves or we shall have no alternative but to check them,” he said in a speech on Saturday.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke stated that security forces took precautionary measures due to NUP’s “mobilization for the protest”, which raised a “red flag”. “We have been monitoring [this]. Their activities raised a red flag and we took precaution[ary] measures,” he said.
Opposition leaders and rights activists have long accused Museveni of failing to address pervasive corruption and human rights abuses. Transparency International ranks Uganda 141 out of 180 countries on its corruption perceptions index. Museveni has denied tolerating corruption, stating that culprits are prosecuted if evidence is sufficient.
