An online protest movement exposes corruption in Uganda. Officials and others are rattled

abcnews.go.com:

An online protest campaign exposing corruption has rattled government officials and others in Uganda, where street protests are practically outlawed

KAMPALA, Uganda — Abuse of public funds. Failing hospitals. Potholes in the streets of Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

These and other issues feature in an online protest campaign that is rattling government officials and others in this East African country where street protests are practically outlawed — and where corruption is widespread and often deadly.

The campaign has been trending on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, as #UgandaParliamentExhibition. It relies on leaks of official documents and has been cast as an “exhibition” — in a sequence of postings — about controversial issues.

The latest posts, about Uganda's National Assembly, purport to reveal details about abuse of public resources, nepotism in staff recruitment and even collusion between civil servants and lawmakers on oversight committees.

They also focus on Parliament Speaker Anita Among, an influential member of the ruling party, who is criticized for allegedly collecting huge sums in allowance spending on foreign travel, including trips that did not happen.

The campaign alleges Among was paid the equivalent of $894,500 in per diems and entertainment allowances between July and January, an astonishing amount in a country struggling to implement its budget amid persistent revenue shortfalls.

A parliamentary commission which Among heads had earlier raised daily per diem rates for the speaker from $990 to $4,000. The annual per capita income in Uganda was $850 in 2022, according to World Bank figures.

Among has not commented on the online campaign, and The Associated Press could not