Philippa Croome
30 April 2011
George Lubwama stands defiantly next to one of the piles of debris ablaze along the roads in Kasubi, yelling out in anger at the passing military vehicles, a bandana wrapped around his face.
Moments later, one of the armoured trucks stop, and another round of tear gas is fired at the dozens of people lining the street.
The crowd scatters in a repeat of what has been happening all morning.
The 27-year-old barber says his neighborhood woke up angry. More so than any of the protests they have participated in yet.
He says the new spike in violence was in reaction to the violent arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Thursday, when security forces smashed in his car window on his drive to work, and sprayed him directly in the eyes with tear gas, after which they threw him violently into a police vehicle.
Lubwama says everyone saw the video, and everyone was shocked and outraged.
“It makes me want to fight,” he said. Friday morning saw angry residents block the road with boulders and burning car tires, and threw stones at police who responded by firing live rounds into the air and tear gas from the patrolling security forces.
Nurses at the local health clinic say they saw seven people suffer bullet wounds from the morning’s fracas. One woman shot in the leg was bleeding profusely and was unconscious – a Red Cross ambulance rushed her to hospital, they said.
Nurse Teddy, 19, said she doesn’t expect any of the violence to calm until there is some sort of change. But she too said Friday was about more than the struggles of the rising cost of living.
“This time, it’s not about the prices, it’s about the leadership,” she said.
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