JINJA: Police in Jinja have arrested over 40 youths suspected to be part of the group that lit bonfires, blocked roads and hurled stones at motorists in the different parts of the city for a large part of Monday morning.
The rowdy youths were protesting escalating commodity prices in the country that have left scores of people on their knees.
“We have more than 35 suspects at the Jinja Central Police Station (CPS) , 4 at Buwenge Police Station and 2 at Kakira Police Station and the hunt is still on for the other youths who participated in the strike,” Kira Region Police spokesperson ASP James Mubi said.
“It is politicians fooling Ugandans with cash handouts but we are going to arrest all the culprits,” Mubbi added.
The protest that kicked off at about 9am left many passengers stranded while others had their items robbed by goons who were disguising as protestors.
Nicholas Ojambo, a boda boda rider, said President Yoweri Museveni provided no short-term solution to the escalating commodity prices prompting people to strike.
Several people were left with no option but to trudge to their destinations or travel dangerously on boda bodas which were also being targeted.
Meanwhile, police spokesperson Fred Enanga told Busoga Today that the situation in Jinja was under control and that calm had returned to the nascent city and surrounding areas.
In Kampala, heavy security presence was maintained throughout the day and according to Enanga, some local leaders were under detention for threatening shopkeepers not to open their businesses.
Ugandans have for long battled escalating commodity prices with a litre of petrol going for Shs6600, a bar of soap costing about Shs7,000 while a kilogramme of posho goes for about Shs4,000, a situation that has forced some schools to close prematurely.
