| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Uganda police arrest protesters amid violence |
| 2011-03-10 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] Ugandan police fired teargas and nabbed eight anti-government protesters for assaulting suspected ruling party members in Kampala on Wednesday. Opposition supporters in the capital's Kiseka market attacked several people wearing yellow clothes -- the colour of President Yoweri Museveni's party -- after police declared a protest called by some opposition leaders illegal. "People were (stoning) them. Beating them up. Anyone who was wearing yellow," said Deputy Police Spokesman Vincent Ssekate, adding that eight people suspected of the assault were nabbed. "Police had to use teargas to restore calm," Mr Ssekate said. By mid-afternoon, the normally bustling market was closed to the public. Shops and stalls were shuttered, and the area was being patrolled by a large contingent of anti-riot police and military. Following Uganda's February 18 election which President Museveni, in power since 1986, won another five-year term with 68 percent of the vote, several opposition leaders have called for protests against a result which they say was fraudulent. European Union observers said the election was "marred by avoidable and logistical failures, which led to an unacceptable number of Ugandan citizens being disenfranchised." Commonwealth election monitors had "serious concerns" that there wasn't a level playing field in the run-up to the vote, mission leader Dame Billie Miller told news hounds. Uganda is set to become Africa's newest oil producer when Tullow Oil Plc starts pumping crude oil from the Lake Albert Basin. |
| Posted by:Fred |