Ugandans burn tyres, barricade roads after Bobi Wine rearrested

Ugandans burn tyres, barricade roads after Bobi Wine rearrested

Protests have erupted in Kampala after police detained Bobi Wine and Francis Zaake at Entebbe Airport as they prepared to travel abroad for medical care.

On Friday, people demonstrated burning tyres and piling rocks and other barricades in the middle of the roads.

“Protesters blocked the roads using garbage cans and burning tyres. Motorists have to get alternative routes to the city centre. Soldiers and riot police are still clearing the roads,” Nvule told Reuters.

Friday’s demonstrations were most intense in Kamwokya, a suburb of Kampala where Bobi Wine has a recording studio, according to Dick Nvule, a local reporter.

— NTV UGANDA (@ntvuganda) August 31, 2018

Police however insisted that the protests were limited and had been contained.

The two MPs maintain they were tortured by security forces while in detention in August. Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo however dismissed the comments as “rubbish.”

The case led to protests against President Yoweri Museveni who at 74 years, is seen by many Ugandans as out of touch with his people.

Nearly 80 percent of the Ugandan population is under the age of 30.

Bobi Wine was charged with treason over his alleged role in the stoning of President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy this month, but a court granted him access to private doctors, citing ill health.

His lawyer Robert Amsterdam last week told Reuters that his client had been left unable to stand after being beaten while in detention.

When he appeared in court a day after his lawyer spoke, he was unable to walk without help.

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