Besigye was arrested at his party’s headquarters after heavily armed police surrounded the building and a helicopter fired tear gas at a crowd.
Semujju Nganda, a spokesman for Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change party, said police took Besigye to an unknown location. Afterward, they fired tear gas and live ammunition into the air as warning shots, as well as detonating stun grenades.
Besigye, the main rival to President Yoweri Museveni, had been holding a meeting with other leaders of his party, said Ingrid Turinawe, an aide to Besigye.
“The police basically invaded us,” she said.
Armed police also parked their trucks near the gate of the Kampala home of another presidential candidate, former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.
Josephine Mayanja-Nkangi, a spokeswoman for Mbabazi, said that Mbabazi understood the deployment means he cannot leave his house.
Protesters erected barricades of stones on the highway leading to Uganda’s only international airport. Police fired tear gas and whacked protesters with sticks.
The voting Thursday suffered delays in delivery of voting materials, especially in areas seen as opposition strongholds.
Voting was taking place Friday at 36 polling stations in Kampala and the neighbouring district of Wakiso where no voting took place on Thursday.
The government also shut down social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. But using virtual private networks, or VPNs, many Ugandans are slowly getting back on social media.
(AP/NAN)
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