Uganda’s main Opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, is arrested outside his home in Kasangati, Uganda, on Monday. — AP
Uganda’s main Opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, is arrested outside his home in Kasangati, Uganda, on Monday. — AP
The police arrested Uganda’s main Opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, for the fourth time in eight days on Monday, after an election that the United States and European Union have criticised and the Opposition reject as fraudulent.
The police also stormed Mr Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party headquarters and arrested eight people, one member said, two days after President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, was declared the winner of the February 18 vote.
The EU observer mission said the vote had been conducted in an “intimidating” atmosphere and the United States has voiced concerns about the frequent arrests of Mr Besigye.
The police said they detained Mr Besigye as he was preparing to lead supporters to the Electoral Commission headquarters in the capital Kampala to collect the official results, and that he had not obtained government consent.
“We have arrested people who are planning to cause violence in Kampala city center,” police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, said.
But Ingrid Turinawe, an FDC official, said Mr Besigye was attempting to gather evidence as part of his challenging of the election results.
