Opposition Leader Besigye Arrested in Uganda Protest

 

KAMPALA, Uganda — The leading opposition figure here was arrested on Monday and charged with inciting violence, as a third day of street demonstrations in the Ugandan capital ended in shrouds of tear gas and rubber bullets.

The “walk to work” protests are a campaign against spiraling fuel and food prices led by a former presidential candidate, Kizza Besigye.

Despite the meager size of the protests — rarely numbering more than a few hundred people in a country of more than 30 million — they have elicited a crushing response by government security forces, sending tear gas through crowds of bystanders and university dormitories. Demonstrators were beaten and fired upon, further raising political tensions.

Mr. Besigye was dragged onto the back of a pickup truck by several police officers on Monday, his right hand in a cast and sling after being shot by military police with a rubber bullet on Thursday, the second day of the walk to work demonstrations. Monday’s demonstration was the third, and comes as riots have broken out in a number of universities in Kampala.

A police spokeswoman, Judith Nabakooba, said the protests in Kampala had dissipated by the early afternoon and that 98 people, including major political figures, had been arrested.

“The situation has been contained,” Officer Nabakooba said. She also said there had been protests in the nearby city of Jinja, on the Nile River, but those too had been pacified.

Mr. Besigye, who won just over 20 percent of the vote in February, swore earlier this month that he would walk from his home on the outskirts of Kampala to the city center each Monday and Thursday to raise attention to skyrocketing commodity prices that he said are spurred on by government corruption.

Mr. Besigye cited an unexpected $250 million supplementary budget just before February’s election, the recent purchase of Russian fighter jets for about $750 million, as well as lucrative but secretive oil contracts signed by the government after major oil discoveries in the country’s west.

Mr. Besigye vowed on Monday that he would walk to work again on Thursday.

On Saturday, President Yoweri Museveni said that Ugandans should not complain about rising food prices, and that the government would crush any demonstration, including the walk to work movement.