Business came to a standstill yesterday in some parts of Kampala after councillors voted out the opposition mayor Erias Lukwago. This was after a tribunal had found him guilty of abuse of office and incompetence. At the time of the meeting, Mr. Lukwago was not around as he was being treated for malaria and hypertension.

As expected, police had to deploy heavily around Kampala Capital City Authority offices where the voting exercise was taking place. A lawyer who wanted to deliver a court order to halt the proceedings was denied access to the meeting venue and put onto a waiting police pick-up.

Authorities did not wait for Kisekka market vendors to go on rampage. They forced all the shops to close and asked the market vendors to vacate. Police fired tear-gas to disperse the crowds that were pelting them with stones. The Kampala North Operations commander, Sam Omala explained the reason behind the closure of the shops that; "It's not easy to tell who is throwing stones because they mix with people operating these stores."

Meanwhile, inside the hall where the voting process was taking place, one councillor, Allan Ssewanyana kept on interrupting the process as he tried to present the court order but he was later thrown out of the hall. He was one of the three councillors who voted in favour of Mr. Lukwago not to be kicked out but their vote was too low compared to the 29 votes.

In a related development, Dr. Kizza Besigye was equally arrested as he tried to get out of his home. Earlier on, when the Minister had just received the tribunal report, Dr. Kizza Besigye was using lines like: 'Omuloodi Waali' meaning that the Lord Mayor is still in office, which the police did not take lightly, thus subjecting him to preventive arrests.

Talking to BBC's Focus on Africa, Mr. Lukwago said that: "There's no respect for the constitution, for the rule of law and for democratic governance."

Using his facebook, Mr. Lukwago wrote: "Court order obdurately defied, lawyers harangued and clobbered, Hon. Minister presides over a purpoted Authority meeting without vital instruments like the mace, mambas and Kibooko squad unleash terror in the city:,all in the name of evicting one person from city hall, moreover at a time when he is languishing in a hospital in Nsambya. My head will always remain high as long as am on the right side of history."