Uganda police and soldiers were on Friday engaged in running battles with demonstrators in downtown Kampala following the re-arrest of MPs Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, and Francis Zaake at the airport as they sought to travel abroad for medical care.

The security forces deployed in Kamwokya slum, the base of Mr Kyagulanyi, extinguished bonfires and removed rocks and other barricades in the middle of roads.

A motorist drives past a bonfire lit by protestors in Kampala. PHOTO | NTV UGANDA

“Protesters blocked the roads using garbage cans and burning tyres. Motorists have to get alternative routes to the city centre. Soldiers and riot police are still clearing the roads,” a local radio reporter, Dick Nvule, told Reuters.

Kampala police spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire said they were monitoring the city to ensure no illegal rallies took place.

Uganda army soldiers on patrol in downtown Kampala on August 31, 2018. PHOTO | NTV UGANDA

Mr Kyagulanyi was born and raised in Kamwokya where he operates several businesses including a music production studio.

Charges

The two lawmakers were among a group of five MPs who were detained on August 13 in Uganda’s northwestern town of Arua and accused of throwing stones at a presidential convoy during a by-election campaign.

Police said on Thursday they had stopped Mr Kyagulanyi, who has been charged with treason but released on bail, as they awaited further guidance.

Mr Zaake, who has been bedridden, has not been charged but has been in hospital in Kampala. Police say they stopped him from fleeing the country at the airport and would arraign him on charges of treason.

The two are being held at the government-owned Kiruddu Hospital.

Bobi Wine at Kiruddu Hospital in Kampala on August 31, 2018. PHOTO | COURTESY

—Reporting by Daily Monitor and Reuters.