Uganda police deny opposition leader's arrest

Ugandan police denied on Saturday allegations by opposition leader Bobi Wine’s party that he had been arrested by soldiers as President Yoweri Museveni closed in on a landslide re-election.

Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) said on Friday night an army helicopter landed in his compound in Kampala and “forcibly took him away to an unknown destination”. Reuters could not immediately verify the claim.

National police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke told a televised news conference that Wine was at his home and free to move.

"He is not under arrest," Rusoke said. Wine and representatives of the NUP could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wine has alleged mass fraud during Thursday's election, held under an internet blackout, and called on supporters to protest.

His party said on Thursday he had been placed under effective house arrest.

The vote has been widely seen as a test of the 81-year-old Museveni's political strength and ability to avoid the unrest that has rocked neighbours Tanzania and Kenya.

MUSEVENI CRUISES TOWARDS RE-ELECTION

As of Saturday morning, Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, held a commanding lead with nearly 72% of the vote, the electoral commission said. Wine trailed with 24%, with more than 90% of polling stations counted.

After a campaign marred by clashes at opposition rallies and what the United Nations said was widespread repression and intimidation, voting passed peacefully on Thursday.

But violence broke out in the early hours of Friday in the town of Butambala, about 55 km (35 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala, according to a police spokesperson and a member of parliament from the area, who gave differing accounts of events.

DEADLY VIOLENCE

Local police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe said machete-wielding opposition "goons" organised by local MP Muwanga Kivumbi attacked a police station and vote-tallying centre.

"Security responded in self-defence because these people came in big numbers. Police fired in self-defence," she told Reuters, adding that 25 people were arrested.

Kivumbi, however, told Reuters the victims were killed at around 3 a.m. inside his house, where they were waiting for election results for his parliamentary seat to be announced.

"They killed 10 people inside my house," he said. "There were people inside the garage who were waiting for the results to celebrate my victory."

"They broke the front door and began shooting inside the garage. It was a massacre."

He said security forces had earlier dispersed crowds outside but disputed the police's assertion that the deaths occurred during clashes between the two sides.

Tumushabe, the police spokesperson, said she was not aware of an incident at Kivumbi's house, which she said was close to the police station.

Reuters was not able to independently confirm the circumstances of the violence.

-Maxwell Akalaare Adombila/Reuters