Students have been rioting at Makerere for a few days, and the day before yesterday things heated up some more when the FDC presidential candidate Kizza Besigye was arrested and reportedly taken to Luzira prison. His supporters showed their frustration in the city centre, and traffic was completely jammed. Some property was destroyed, the police used tear gas, and someone got killed. Kaija told me that the Garden City mall, normally full of people at that hour, was virtually deserted at about six p.m. Information was scant, radio channels initially offered practically no comment from the government. Suddenly this country felt slightly – just slightly, for now – more like the Uganda I saw in the news as a child. I’m actually not a good source of information regarding the events. See the Monitor for updates.

A few blocks from the centre of things everything is calm. The good side of the unrest is that the traffic jams are temporarily gone. This morning, the streets were emptier than usual as I walked to this internet café, and the blurb for today’s paper said "Besigye hasn’t eaten since arrest". I wonder if his court case is the first time in history that anyone is charged for "treason and rape". 08:36