KAMPALA, Uganda
Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was criminally charged Wednesday by authorities who accused him of inciting violence with his efforts to stage street protests against rising commodity prices that the government largely blames on the war in Ukraine.
Besigye, a four-time
presidential candidate, spent the night in a police cell after being arrested
Tuesday while addressing people in downtown Kampala, the capital. To get there,
he had eluded constant surveillance at his home by police trying to foil his
attempts to go out.
Besigye indicated to the
public that it is “desirable to demonstrate, an act which was calculated to
lead to destruction or damage to property,” the prosecutors’ charge sheet said.
Besigye, a serial campaigner
against the government of longtime President Yoweri Museveni, has been arrested
hundreds of times over the years. He has rarely faced charges in court.
The retired army officer has been calling on Ugandans to “wake up” and protest against rising commodity prices that the government blames mostly on the war in Ukraine, a major supplier of grain and edible oils.
But authorities, declining to
make price interventions of any sort, are encouraging Ugandans to tighten their
belts.
Museveni, an authoritarian and
U.S. ally on regional security who has been in power since 1986, told Ugandans
in a recent speech to substitute cassava for bread, saying the widely cultivated
root tuber is a healthy alternative. That drew scorn from many in this East
African country.
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