Just days before the election, one of Uganda's most popular presidential-hopefuls, opposition candidate Kizza Besigye, was briefly arrested on Monday. Besigye, together with his supporters, were on their way to the business district of the country's capital, Kampala, for a political rally when they were confronted by authorities, according to Newsweek.
Ugandan police stated that the presidential candidate was not really arrested, but was merely being held after he disobeyed police orders not to disrupt city traffic, reports BBC News.
After holding the highest post in the country for 30 years, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's fifth and latest bid for the presidency has been met by a number of challengers. In this year's elections alone, his candidacy is being challenged by seven opponents, one of the most prominent of them being Besigye.
Museveni's former doctor, Besigye, had attempted to run against the president thrice in the past. His previous attempts, however, failed. He had also been arrested multiple times in the past, though was usually released soon after, reports The Associated Press through Yahoo! News.
Such were the exact events that happened on Monday, as police eventually released Besigye not long after he was apprehended.
Besigye's party, the FDC, has accused the government of initiating a number of unfair strategies against opposition candidates, such as prohibiting political rallies in most public spaces in the capital, thereby crippling the campaign efforts of opposition candidates.
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