Ugandan police and soldiers closed off parts of Kampala for several hours yesterday and fired teargas and gunshots into the air to break up protests over the arrest of a prominent opposition lawmaker. Popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine was one of five MPs arrested on August 13, on the eve of a parliamentary by-election in the north-west town of Arua, after President Yoweri Museveni's convoy was pelted with stones by their supporters, according to authorities.

The arrest of the popular MP - a vocal critic of the long-serving president - has angered many in Uganda, and protests erupted in the capital on Monday over his ongoing detention. Demonstrators in central Kampala set fire to piles of tyres and wooden pallets, blocking traffic, and lobbed stones at policemen while supporters cheered their encouragement from shopping arcade balconies, an AFP reporter said. Armed police Heavily armed police in anti-riot gear and soldiers took control of the streets around the bustling Kireka market. Armoured personnel carriers were positioned at key intersections as security forces ordered members of the public to evacuate city blocks.

Reports indicating that Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) has serious head injuries is fake news, President Yoweri Museveni says. “The fake news generators and even some of the elements of the security forces are concentrating on the stoning of the President's car. Please, that is not the most serious problem here. That President has the capacity, either alone or in company with his personal security, to defend himself, not only against stone throwers but against any attacker,” Museveni said in a statement.

The president said Bobi Wine does not have any head injuries or bone fractures, according to a medical report given to him by UPDF doctors from Makindye military barracks where he's remanded. “I decided to check with Army doctors because, being a disciplined army, UPDF doctors always take precautions in such situations. Bobi Wine had already been seen by doctors in Arua, Gulu and Kampala.

He has no head or chest injuries or bone fractures, they informed me,” read part of Museveni’s statement. Kyagulanyi was remanded to the barracks after appearing before the General Court Martial in Gulu, where he was charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.  Museveni’s statement is contrary to reports by a few individuals who were allowed to see Bobi Wine as they maintained the MP appeared very weak, with head injuries and possible fractures.