The success of youth-led protests in Kenya has led to calls in Uganda to fight corruption through street protests. Activists have planned a march in the Ugandan capital Kampala for July 23, 2024. Shortly after this announcement, a clip appeared online claiming to show President Yoweri Museveni warning those who plan to participate. But the claim is false: the video is from 2020 and shows Museveni addressing the people after protests broke out following the arrest of an opposition politician Bobi Wine.
The video has been shared more than 3,000 times on TikTok since its placement on June 30, 2024.
In the video, it appears that Museveni is giving a press conference.
“President Museveni warns Ugandan plans for March2parliament (sic),” the caption of the video reads.
In the clip, Museveni says: “It was absolutely a miscalculation by the schemers to think that they could use such anti-people techniques in a country that was led by the original National Resistance Army. Make that miscalculation, but do so at your own risk. I can assure you of that, wherever you are.”
The video was also shared on X here And here.
Uganda, like Kenya, has a predominantly young population (archived here).
In Kenya the youth are to protest against a bill that would have included a series of tax increases. After deadly clashes, President William Ruto agreed to withdraw the bill (archived here).
Corruption in Uganda led to an online campaign called Exhibition about the Ugandan Parliament launched earlier this year (archived here).
The campaign has upset government officials in the East African country where corruption is widespread (archived here).
However, the video circulating on social media does not show Museveni warning Ugandan protesters about the planned demonstrations.
Old clip
Using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, we have a reverse image search on key frames from the images.
This led to a longer version of the clip, which was uploaded online on Museveni’s official website over three years ago. Facebook account (archived here).
The footage, spanning over an hour, shows Museveni addressing issues surrounding Covid-19 and security on November 29, 2020.
The clip that recently circulated on social media was cut from 49’10” to 49’40” in length.
The segment shows how Museveni specifically addressed security concerns in 2020, when his government cracked down on protests that broke out after then-opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine stepped down. arrested (archived here).
Museveni has been in power since 1986 and has the Constitution amended twice to allow him to extend his presidency. In 2021, he ran for the sixth time and was re-elected for another five-year term (archived here).