Police Has Today Arrested Black Monday Activists In Corruption Protest Mocking Museveni.

Police in Kampala has arrested a group of youths who call themselves ‘The Alternative’ for staging a protest against rampant corruption in the country.

Armed with placards, the activists under the auspices of Black Monday tried to march across the city to show their displeasure with graft.

They had managed to run away from police officers along Kampala-Entebbe road in a bid to evade arrest during their anti-corruption protest on January 13, 2020.

Police, however, quickly intercepted them along Entebbe road and arrested several of them, before whisking them away.

This was during their Monday morning anti-corruption campaign termed as “The Real Anti-Corruption Walk”, mocking President Museveni’s walk held at Kololo airstrip last year.

Criticism.

At the start of December 2019, Museveni led hundreds of people in a march against corruption, calling corrupt people parasites who steal public wealth.

Museveni said to end corruption, leaders must develop the economy.

Critics note that in 2018, Transparency International ranked Uganda as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa, below Kenya, Mauritania and Nigeria.

Action Aid International-Uganda says Museveni marching against corruption is ironic, because his government is to blame for much of it.

Nickson Ogwal, the director of programs and policy at Action Aid International-Uganda, told VOA that Museveni is the chief law enforcement officer of Uganda.”

“He’s therefore the one [to] whom the citizens are supposed to walk and show and demonstrate that they are angry about corruption. Now, to whom is he angry? So, we really think that he is playing politics.”

Critics accuse Uganda’s inspector general of holding only lower level officials or private citizens to account for corruption.

The inspector, Irene Mulyagonja, acknowledges that some top government officials hide behind Museveni but argues the president is sincere in tackling corruption.

“You see when he says, ‘I am ready to fight,’ it means he’s ready to give them up. So that if you start looking for them, and to be true to him, if you are investigating a person who is near him, he doesn’t say stop investigating. He says, ‘bring me the evidence,’” Mulyagonja said.