Uganda: Man arrested for beating president's effigy

KAMPALA, Uganda

A man in Uganda was arrested for beating an effigy of the country’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the capital Kampala, police said Tuesday.

While flogging the effigy with a cane, the man reportedly chanted in a megaphone, accusing Museveni of rigging the presidential elections held last month.

Jessica Nabukeera, a shopkeeper at the scene, told Anadolu Agency: “The man was beating the effigy while shouting that Museveni is a dictator, Museveni is killing Ugandans, and he should be punished for the crimes he has committed.”

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Patrick Onyango, a police spokesman in the capital, said the man was arrested Monday by police on Kampala Road in the city center, and he confessed that he is a member of the Alternative Social Movement, a pressure group.

“The man, named Ferdinand Luta, has been charged with the offense of creating a public nuisance,” Onyango added.

The East African country’s Electoral Commission on Jan. 16 announced Museveni as the winner of the elections held on Jan. 14. His rival Bob Wine, who refused to concede defeat, challenged the results of the election in the country’s top court.