Uganda: Main opposition candidate arrested on election day
Posted February 18, 2016 6:00 am
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - An aide to Ugandan opposition leader says Kizza Besigye has been arrested in the capital, Kampala.
Shawn Muburi, who is in charge of communications for Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change party, said Besigye was arrested late Thursday in the Kampala suburb of Naguru, where he had gone to investigate alleged ballot stuffing in a house run by the intelligence agencies.
He said Besigye was arrested and taken to an unknown location.
The police did not respond to requests for comment.
Besigye is Ugandan President Museveni's main challenger in the polls.
A ballot box sits empty while voters queue at a polling station where five hours after voting was due to start no voting papers had yet arrived, in the capital Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans voted Thursday in presidential elections seen as the toughest challenge yet for the country's long-time president, but voting was marred by delays of voting materials in many places, and people complained of an apparent shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Electoral officers and police leave with empty ballot boxes after abandoning a polling station where after eight hours no voting materials had arrived, in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday but in Ggaba hundreds of people waited for seven hours for voting papers to arrive and when they discovered there were only ballots for choosing MPs, with no ballots to vote for president, they overpowered the police, destroyed the ballots for MPs, and the polling station had to be abandoned. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A policeman patrols as voters wait patiently at a polling station where an hour and a half after voting was due to start, ballot boxes and papers had not yet arrived, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Voters wait at a polling station where an hour and a half after voting was due to start, ballot boxes and papers had not yet arrived, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Voters wait patiently at a polling station where an hour and a half after voting was due to start, ballot boxes and papers had not yet arrived, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A Ugandan woman casts her vote at a polling station located at a school in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Ugandans queue to cast their votes outside a polling station located at a school in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A Ugandan woman casts her vote at a polling station located at a school in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Ugandans queue to cast their votes outside a polling station located at a school in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A woman casts her vote at the National Theatre polling station, one of the few in the capital which two hours after voting was due to start had received ballot boxes and papers, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Voters queue at the National Theatre polling station, one of the few in the capital which two hours after voting was due to start had received ballot boxes and papers, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 30 years, is facing his tightest race ever with opposition leader Kizza Besigye his main challenger. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A policeman stands guard by an empty ballot box at a polling station where five hours after voting was due to start no voting papers had yet arrived, in the capital Kampala, Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans voted Thursday in presidential elections seen as the toughest challenge yet for the country's long-time president, but voting was marred by delays of voting materials in many places, and people complained of an apparent shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A voter stretches his arms as he queues at a polling station where five hours after voting was due to start no voting papers had yet arrived, in the capital Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans voted Thursday in presidential elections seen as the toughest challenge yet for the country's long-time president, but voting was marred by delays of voting materials in many places, and people complained of an apparent shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A woman hangs her laundry up to dry as voters queue at a polling station where five hours after voting was due to start no voting papers had yet arrived, in the capital Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans voted Thursday in presidential elections seen as the toughest challenge yet for the country's long-time president, but voting was marred by delays of voting materials in many places, and people complained of an apparent shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A woman sells nuts to hungry voters queuing at a polling station where five hours after voting was due to start no voting papers had yet arrived, in the capital Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans voted Thursday in presidential elections seen as the toughest challenge yet for the country's long-time president, but voting was marred by delays of voting materials in many places, and people complained of an apparent shutdown of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A voter holds a rock as riot police fire tear gas at a crowd of angry voters outside a polling station where voting material for the presidential election never arrived, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday but in Ggaba hundreds of people waited for seven hours for voting papers to arrive and when they discovered there were only ballots for choosing MPs, with no ballots to vote for president, they overpowered the police, destroyed the ballots for MPs, and the polling station had to be abandoned. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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An angry voter smashes a campaign placard of long-time President Yoweri Museveni, outside a polling station where voting material for the presidential election never arrived, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday but in Ggaba hundreds of people waited for seven hours for voting papers to arrive and when they discovered there were only ballots for choosing MPs, with no ballots to vote for president, they overpowered the police, destroyed the ballots for MPs, and the polling station had to be abandoned. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A woman carries her baby past a line of voters who queued for more than 7 hours without being able to vote, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday but in Ggaba hundreds of people waited for seven hours for voting papers to arrive and when they discovered there were only ballots for choosing MPs, with no ballots to vote for president, they overpowered the police, destroyed the ballots for MPs, and the polling station had to be abandoned. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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A Ugandan policeman struggles to keep hold of a box containing voting material, as excited voters surround him after waiting over 7 hours without being able to vote, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday but in Ggaba hundreds of people waited for seven hours for voting papers to arrive and when they discovered there were only ballots for choosing MPs, with no ballots to vote for president, they overpowered the police, destroyed the ballots for MPs, and the polling station had to be abandoned. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Voters cheers with excitement after waiting over seven hours without being able to vote, only to discover moments later that the voting materials that had just arrived were incomplete, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Ugandans went to the polls Thursday but in Ggaba hundreds of people waited for seven hours for voting papers to arrive and when they discovered there were only ballots for choosing MPs, with no ballots to vote for president, they overpowered the police, destroyed the ballots for MPs, and the polling station had to be abandoned. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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