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March 22nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda KAMPALA (Reuters) – Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested in connection with the death of a police officer during a riot in Kampala on Wednesday, a police spokesman said.
Since losing a presidential election in February last year to long-time leader Yoweri Museveni, Besigye has led a series of often violent demonstrations to protest against high food and fuel prices in the east African country.
Once a close ally of Museveni, who has been in power for 25 years, Besigye has stood against him for the presidency three times, lost every time and is now his most prominent opponent.
Police said the veteran opposition leader was detained following the death of the police officer, who was hit by a rock when police moved in to disperse a crowd that had gathered in the capital, where Kampala’s mayor and opposition politicians including Besigye were meeting.
“The Uganda police force regretfully confirms that a police officer was killed in a violent procession at Kampala this afternoon,” said deputy police spokesman Judith Nabakooba.
“We have arrested 16 suspects including Besigye. They’re being held at various police stations in Kampala and they will be produced in court at an appropriate time,” she told reporters.
Nabakooba said Kampala’s mayor, who is also an opposition politician, had asked permission to inspect road projects in the capital accompanied by two people. Instead, she said, the mayor led the tour with opposition politicians, including Besigye, which attracted a crowd.
Anne Mugisha, a senior official for Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change, the main opposition party, said Besigye had joined the mayor for a tour of the city, not to take part in a rally.
The police had been looking for an excuse to arrest Besigye, she said. “We know they usually hire hooligans to mingle in opposition rallies and start throwing stones, so that police use that to accuse us of sowing lawlessness and then unleash brutality on us,” she said. “It’s their ploy to stop our activities but we won’t be cowed.”
In the past year Besigye has championed a series of “walk to work” protests to draw attention to the high cost of living and the president’s alleged mismanagement of the economy.
Ugandan security officials accuse Besigye of trying to sow lawlessness and exploit it to topple the government.
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