Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye denied bail for leading inflation protests

Ugandan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has been jailed and charged with inciting violence for the second time in a month, his lawyer announced Thursday.

A longtime critic of President Yoweri Museveni, Kizza Besigye, 66, has recently led several protests against the rising cost of living in Uganda, as well as the entire African continent, as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, was arrested again Tuesday on charges of inciting violence, a week after his release, said his lawyer, Elias Lukwago.

"Dr. Besigye and his colleague Samuel Lubega Makaku appeared in court last night (Wednesday) to answer charges of inciting violence and were jailed," the lawyer said.

Samuel Lubega Makaku is also a former presidential candidate in Uganda.

"This is a travesty of justice. They were presented in the evening and the magistrate knew that it was not possible to apply for bail," added the lawyer.

Arrested last month on the same charge, Kizza Besigye was released on bail last week and was due to appear in court on Thursday in this first case.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has so far refused to respond to the opposition's demands to ease the tax burden on the country's 45 million people.

Last week, another top opposition leader Bobi Wine denounced the government's purchase of limousines for the speaker of parliament and her deputy and criticized the president for not "prioritizing the plight of Ugandans.

Kizza Besigye called the purchase of the two limousines for 2.4 billion shillings, about 600,000 euros, "scandalous".

In his annual address to the nation last week, President Museveni said that "lowering taxes, especially on imports, would be suicidal because it would encourage people to buy recklessly and deplete our foreign exchange reserves.