By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President of Uganda has cautioned that those planning to stage a protest against his government will be “playing with fire” if they go ahead with an anti-corruption march to parliament on Tuesday.
Like neighbouring Kenya, young Ugandans have been organising the march on social media to demand an end to corruption in President Yoweri Museveni-led government.
Their counterparts in Kenya have in the last couple of weeks held mass demonstrations that forced President William Ruto to drop his plan to increase tax amidst high cost of living in East African country.
Heritage Times HT reports that after his readiness to engage with the agitated youths, they have gone ahead to ask for the resignation of Ruto who came to power in 2022 with a promise of creating enabling environment for “hustling Kenyans”.
Their planned protest would not be tolerated, Museveni cautioned in a live telecast.
“We are busy producing wealth… and you here want to disturb us. You are playing with fire because we cannot allow you to disturb us,” he said.
Mr Museveni is accused by his critics of ruling Uganda with an iron hand since taking power in 1986, but his supporters praise him for maintaining stability in the East African state.
The President also accused some of the protest organisers of “always working with foreigners” to cause chaos in Uganda, but did not elaborate.
Police had earlier announced that they had refused to give permission for the march to take place.
One of the main protest leaders told AFP news agency that they would go ahead with it.
“We don’t need police permission to carry out a peaceful demonstration. It is our constitutional right,” Louez Aloikin Opolose was quoted as saying.
Heritage Times HT had earlier reported that UK and US governments imposed sanctions on Uganda’s parliamentary speaker, Anita Annet Among, earlier this year after she was accused of corruption.
The sanctions bar her from travelling to the UK and the US.
