Emeute à Kampala – 11 mai 2011

Ugandan riots erupt after claims opposition leader barred from flight

guardian.co.uk

Wednesday 11 May 2011 23.30 BST

Kizza Besigye said an official at Nairobi airport told him his plane would not be allowed to land in Uganda with him on board

Riots have erupted again in Uganda after an opposition leader claimed he had been barred from returning to the country.

Kizza Besigye said he had been waiting to board a flight in Nairobi when a Kenya Airways official told him that the plane would not be allowed to land in Uganda with him on board. The news triggered renewed protests in Kampala which police quelled with teargas, a day after hundreds of people who tried to hold a banned rally were sprayed with pink liquid.

Another police clampdown is expected on Thursday for the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni, who first came to power in Uganda in 1986. Guests at the ceremony will reportedly include the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, the Nigerian leader, Goodluck Jonathan, and Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki. The inauguration’s $1.3m (£781,000) cost has added to public anger at a time when living costs are rising fast.

Besigye had been receiving treatment in Kenya after he was targeted at close range with pepper spray and dragged from a vehicle following his most recent « walk to work » protest. He was booked on a flight Wednesday morning and was in the departure lounge when a member of ground staff told him that he could not fly. Besigye’s luggage was retrieved from the hold and his boarding pass revoked.

The Ugandan government denied it had interfered. « The government of Uganda has nothing to do with Dr Besigye’s travel plans from Kenya or any sovereign state, » said a spokesman, Fred Opolot.

A spokesman for Kenya Airways said Besigye had not been allowed to board for « safety reasons ».

Sam Mugumya, an aide to the opposition leader, suggested the government might have been anxious to prevent Besigye disrupting the inauguration. « It was very frustrating to find you are not allowed to walk, you are not allowed to drive, if you fly out for medical treatment you have to ask the president’s permission to come back, » he said. « This is the kind of dictatorship we are dealing with – it can do anything. It’s a panicking regime that has lost its legitimacy to govern. » Read more…