Ugandan police and soldiers closed off parts of Kampala for several hours yesterday and fired tear gas and gunshots into the air to break up protests over the arrest of a prominent opposition lawmaker. Popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine was one of five MPs arrested on August 13, on the eve of a parliamentary by-election in the north-west town of Arua, after President Yoweri Museveni's convoy was pelted with stones by their supporters, according to authorities.
The arrest of the popular MP - a vocal critic of the long-serving president - has angered many in Uganda, and protests erupted in the capital on Monday over his ongoing detention. Demonstrators in central Kampala set fire to piles of tyres and wooden pallets, blocking traffic, and lobbed stones at policemen while supporters cheered their encouragement from shopping arcade balconies, an AFP reporter said.
Lawyers and family members say that Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is in urgent need of medical attention after being beaten by security forces during his arrest. But in a weekend statement, Museveni, 74, said this was "fake news" and accused the MP of forming "indisciplined groups" and intimidating ruling party voters in what he said was "terrorism".
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