Kampala, Uganda (CNN)Two top Ugandan politicians seeking to unseat the African nation's President were arrested Thursday for allegedly defying orders to "stage illegal rallies not cleared by police," a top law enforcement official said.
Police operations chief Felix Kaweesi told reporters in Kampala that opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and John Amama Mbabazi had been told to either stay in their homes "or be put under preventive arrest." Neither politician ever staged or made it to a rally before being taken into custody.
Mbabazi's campaign issued a statement detailing his arrest around 9:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m. ET) en route to Mbale, "where he was scheduled to host his first consultative meeting." He was later driven back to the Ugandan capital of Kampala under police custody, while his daughter, Rachel Mbabazi, has been reportedly detained as well.
And Besigye's party, the Forum for Democratic Change, tweeted that he was arrested by Ugandan police "as he left his home ahead of his (campaign) launch in Kasangati." The party also posted a picture of one of the policemen trying "to stop @kizzabesigye1's launch" in Kasangati, which is a Kampala suburb.