Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye said today he was hit by a rubber bullet while taking part in a protest against high food prices.
Security forces fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a crowd of more than 1,000, including Dr Besigye, marching towards the centre of the capital, Kampala in protest against steep rises in food and fuel prices.
“Shortly after the firing begun I was hit and I suspect it was a rubber bullet. I had sharp pain and so this ring finger started bleeding," Dr Besigye told reporters at the Kampala Hospital before he was taken for treatment.
Dr Besigye, the Forum For Democratic Change leader who finished second behind President Yoweri Museveni in February’s presidential election, was arrested after being treated.
After the presidential election in February, Dr Besigye called for peaceful protests against Mr Museveni's 25-year-old rule, saying the poll had been rigged, but they failed to get off the ground.
Dr Besigye was arrested on Monday after opposition and civil society groups launched their first "walk to work" protest against steep rises in the cost of living. It was swiftly stifled by police, and opposition leaders were detained.
The groups had vowed to continue protesting every few days and the march today was their second demonstration.
Prices have been rising in Uganda because drought reduced food production in many parts of the country and higher fuel prices increased transport costs, pushing up food prices further in urban areas.
Uganda's consumer price index rose 4.1 per cent in March from February, pushing the year-on-year inflation rate up for a fifth successive month to 11.1 per cent from 6.4 per cent a month earlier.
Food prices jumped 11.9 per cent in March from February, hitting the poorest Ugandans severely, as they spend the highest proportion of their income on basic goods such as food.