Ugandan Activist Arrested Over "People Power" T-shirts

As Ms. Allimadi left Parliament, she was then arrested and bundled on to the vehicle which drove off to Central Police Station (CPS).

[Global: Africa]

Barbra Allimadi, an activist behind the “People Power” T-shirt campaign to highlight corruption in government, was this afternoon arrested at Parliament where she had gone to demand for the release of 19 of the T-shirts confiscated by Parliament security on Monday.

The activist was questioned by police about the campaign, and later released after one hour. No formal charges have been preferred against her. Ibn Ssenkumbi, the Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson, confirmed the arrest.

Ms. Allimadi arrived at Parliament at 10am and started reading a statement to police to release her T-shirts. “I demand the immediate unconditional release of my t-shirts, otherwise the government must state what charges it intends to bring against the t-shirts,” read part of the statement.

“This action just reveals to all Ugandans and the rest of the World, the level of paranoia that governs the mindsets of the powers that be.” Police grabbed the statement before she could finish reading and asked her to leave the premises. Ms. Allimadi however defied the cops and stood in the middle of the road leaving parliament, blocking exiting vehicles.

The police eventually handed her the T-shirts after thirty minutes. As Ms. Allimadi left Parliament, she found a police patrol car full of female police officers waiting for her. She was then arrested and bundled on to the vehicle which drove off to Central Police Station (CPS).

The T-shirts have words “One Voice” at the front and, according to Ms. Allimadi, are to be worn to send a message to President Museveni’s government to end the rampant corruption in the country.

Ms. Allimadi has of late been in the spotlight for leading a number of demonstrations organized by ‘Concerned Citizens,” a pressure group. A few months ago she, along with another female activist, stripped to their bras in front of CPS while protesting the inhumane arrest of FDC’s Ingrid Turinawe.

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Source: Uganda’s The Daily Monitor  

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