Uganda is witnessing a second day of chaos and drama as the police once again try to stop opposition leaders who are walking to their places of work in the second day of “walk to work” protests by the opposition.
The police Thursday morning stopped Forum for Democratic Change President Dr. Kizza besigye from walking to his offices in Najanankumbi at Kasangati, a few kilometers from his residence.
The President of opposition Justice Forum, Asuman Basalirwa his predecessor Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja are reportedly being detained at Kawempe Police Station after they were arrested walking to their place of work.
Police fired teargas to disperse a crowd of opposition supporters who gathered around Dr. Besigye after the police blocked him and he dived into a road trench.
Five pupils of Tender Talent Magnet School and two adults in Kasangati, a Kampala suburb were rushed to hospital this morning after they fainted due to tear gas.
The police last evening again warned the opposition against the walk to work protests, calling them illegal since the organizers did “not notify the police”.
“Where the minimum requirements are in place and have not been complied with, the Police will not allow that demonstration to happen,” Asan Kasingye told journalists.
But Besigye speaking from the road trench today insisted no one needs to ask for permission to walk to their place of work and it is ridiculous for the police to deploy heavily to stop people who have decided to walk to their respective places of work.
He said the opposition is just trying to identify with many Uganda who can no longer afford basic commodities including food and transport due to rising prices of fuel and commodities. Besigye says the government must act on people’s concerns instead of threatening them with military deployments.
The walk to work protests are organized by Action-for-Change, an opposition leaning non party pressure group and first occurred on Monday in which police arrested and charged Besigye, Democratic party President Nobert Mao and several opposition politicians.
Local and International human rights groups and governments including the United States and the United Kingdom have condemned the blocking of the opposition demonstration but the Uganda security forces seem not to be heeding to any such reactions.
We have created a live feed for immediate live updates from our reporters in the field and from other eye witnesses or concerned Uganda via twitter. The Hashtags are #Uganda protest #Walk2Work, #Kizza Besigye, #Uganda news
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