The Walk to Work protests occurred in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in April 2011, as a reaction to the high cost of living. The protests took place following presidential elections in February 2011, and involved several defeated opposition candidates. The protests were suppressed by the government of

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...

, resulting in five deaths. The first Walk to Work protest took place on 11 April 2011, and was organised by the pressure group Activists for Change (A4C), which included the Forum for Democratic Change, the party of three-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye. Besigye had recently lost a presidential election against

in February 2011. The 11 April protest called on workers to walk to work to highlight the increased cost of transport in Uganda. In February 2011, Ugandan inflation was running at 11%. The Walk to Work protest was organized in response to a comment by President Museveni on the increased cost of fuel, which had risen by 50% between January and April 2011. He said: "What I call on the public to do is to use fuel sparingly. Don't drive to bars." The 11 April protest was disrupted by police, who fired tear gas and arrested Besigye and Democratic Party leader

Norbert Mao Norbert Mao is a Ugandan political activist and lawyer. He has been president of the Democratic Party (Uganda), Democratic Party since 2010, three time presidential candidate and served as the Local Council (Uganda), Local Council 5 chairman fo ...

. In the course of the protest, Besigye was shot in the right arm by a rubber bullet. The government blamed the violence on protesters. In response, on April 14, the protests spread to other Ugandan cities, including

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The city's distance from Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...

and Masaka, prompting further clashes between protesters and police. By 15 April, five people had been shot and killed by police, with dozens injured and hundreds arrested. Further protests took place on 21 and 29 April, resulting in four further deaths, 100 injuries and 600 arrests. According to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, none of those killed were actively involved in the protests.

References

{{reflist 2011 in Uganda Protest marches Transport in Uganda Human rights abuses in Uganda Protests in Africa