{UAH} 2011: Uganda Erupts in Rioting After a Key Leader Is Shot

Uganda Erupts in Rioting After a Key Leader Is Shot

By Nicholas Bariyo

Updated April 15, 2011 12:01 am ET

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KAMPALA, Uganda—Riots erupted in the capital and towns across the country after police shot Uganda's main opposition leader with a rubber bullet while trying to arrest him and arrested other opposition leaders during protests over escalating food and fuel prices.

Veteran opposition leader Kizza Besigye underwent surgery at International Hospital Kampala after being hit in the right hand early Thursday, according to Mr. Besigye's aide, Sam Mugumya, and a doctor at the hospital who said he was recovering. Mr. Besigye placed second to President Yoweri Museveni in a presidential election in February.

A supporter of opposition leader Kizza Besigye throws a tear-gas canister at military police on Thursday.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The shooting sparked riots across Kampala, with opposition supporters blocking many roads with burning tires, logs and stones. The riots also spread to centers outside the capital, including the eastern towns of Jinja, and the coffee hub town of Mbale, as supporters joined the protests. In the western town of Masaka, witnesses said, protesters torched a police vehicle. At one point earlier in the day, police fired tear gas into a hospital just outside Kampala, affecting patients.

In the northern city of Gulu, hundreds of protesters fought running battles with the police late Thursday angered by the arrest of the country's second-most important opposition leader and former presidential candidate Norbert Mao, who was leading similar protests there. "Protesters are burning tires on the streets and have blocked several roads," a witness said by telephone.

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Ugandan authorities deploy military police to quell a peaceful protest in Kampala on Thursday, injuring demonstrators including a major opposition leader. Video courtesy of Reuters and photo courtesy of AP. Warning: video contains graphic images.

Police also arrested a third opposition leader, Asuman Basalirwa, who heads a smaller party, known as Jeema, and was leading another Kampala protest. Authorities accuse the three of inciting violence, saying they haven't sought police approval to hold the demonstrations.

The military later reinforced police in Kampala as the protests intensified but couldn't arrest Mr. Besigye, who was protected by dozens of young supporters. Late Thursday, both the police and the military maintained a heavy security presence across dusty roads in various Kampala suburbs.

At the hospital, Mr. Besigye's supporters kept guard to prevent his arrest as two military vehicles remained stationed opposite the hospital gate. Health officials said Mr. Besigye was too weak to address an earlier scheduled news conference at the hospital.

Alice Alaso, the general secretary of the opposition Forum For Democratic Change, who was with Mr. Besigye when he was shot, said he was specifically targeted, adding, "It was an intentional, ruthless shooting."

Witnesses said police fired rubber bullets at several protesters who had formed a human shield around Mr. Besigye in a bid to avert his arrest.

The Ugandan police blamed Mr. Besigye for the incident, saying he disobeyed police orders in a bid to disrupt public order and insisted on leading an "illegal" procession into the city with the aim of disrupting public order. "There has been a deliberate effort to form processions...this has generated lawlessness in some areas of the city suburbs, which included blocking roads, throwing stones and general disruption of day-to-day activities," said Judith Nabakoba, Uganda's police spokeswoman. She said police are investigating the circumstances under which Mr. Besigye was injured. Police were still to release an official list of casualties.

Mr. Besigye, a trained doctor, was Mr. Museveni's personal physician before they fell out in the late 1990s. He has since challenged Mr. Museveni on three occasions for the Ugandan presidency.

In a 2006 election, Mr. Besigye managed to draw a 37% of the vote despite being nominated from prison where he was facing rape and treason charges. A Ugandan court later dismissed the charges, describing them as "trumped up." In this year's Feb. 18 presidential election, Mr. Besigye's share of the vote dropped to 26%, but he remains popular in urban areas. Poll observers described the elections as marred by various forms of irregularities.

Ugandan protesters are angered by a sudden increase in food prices, including bread, rice, corn, grains and beef. The increase of the price of bread is blamed mainly on a global wheat shortage, according to Opolot Okasia, Uganda's commissioner in charge of crop production and marketing.

"Uganda imports around 90% of the wheat used in bakeries, and rising prices in the international market have not spared us," he said, adding that drought has also cut yields of the country's major food crops like corn and rice since last year.

The shortage has been made worse by increased food exports, mainly to regional markets like Southern Sudan, Western Kenya and Eastern Congo.

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"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

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