By Annet Nakanwagi,
KAMPALA
Ugandan opposition youth leader, Francis Adepo of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has tasked the government to release all persons who were arrested during the Anti-Corruption Protests in Kampala on Tuesday.
Yesterday (Tuesday 23rd July, 2024), Uganda was rocked with countrywide demonstrations by the youth against high-level corruption involving government official.
The protests dubbed #March2Parliament were provoked by mounting corruption allegations of the such as the parliament speaker, Anita Among, who has rejected calls for her resignation after a months long online exposure of allegedly irregular expenditure by her office and others close to her. They resulted into the arrest of over 50 protestors including University students, journalists and Anti-Corruption activists and were remanded to Luzira.
Adepo strongly condemned the heavy-handed response by security forces to the recent protests in Kampala, calling it a “gross violation of human rights” and an attempt to silence the voices of the country’s future generation. He demanded the immediate release of all arrested youth and an end to the intimidation and harassment of peaceful protesters.
“We therefore demand the immediate and unconditional release of all youth arrested during yesterday’s protests. We expect the government to take swift action to release them and respect their rights, otherwise, it will escalate more anger fumes among the youth in this country”, said Adepo.
The opposition youth leader also called upon the government to respect the rights of citizens, engage with the youth, and address their grievances. According to him, the government must recognize that the youth are the backbone of this country’s future and that their voices deserve to be heard instead of silencing them.
