Kampala , Uganda ( CNN ) -- The leader of Uganda 's main opposition party was taken to a hospital in Kampala on Thursday after being shot in the hand , apparently by a rubber bullet allegedly fired by a member of the military police during a protest march . `` We met all of a sudden a blockade of the military police , '' Kizza Besigye told NTV Uganda after the shooting , his hand wrapped in white gauze . `` Maybe there were about 100 or so , all across the road and beside . And so I kept on walking towards them . It was when I was about 10 meters from them that they started charging onto us and firing all kinds of things . Just shortly after they started firing , I was hit . '' The demonstrations in Kampala -- Besigye 's hometown -- were used by opposition parties to protest the government and recent increase in commodity and fuel prices . Thursday 's incident occurred as Besigye -- the leader of the Forum for Democratic Change Uganda -- was leading hundreds of Ugandans in a march to work in the suburbs of Kampala for the second time this week . `` We just ask people to walk to work two times a week , and we want to do so to show solidarity , '' he said . `` There are already tens of thousands of people who are walking to work every day because they can no longer afford the cost of public transport . '' The shooting occurred when police fired tear gas and what appeared to be rubber bullets at the demonstrators -- who had surrounded Besigye in order to protect him , he said . Video from NTV showed police firing into the air and a number of people laying wounded on the ground . The British High Commission in Kampala and the U.S. Embassy condemned the arrest of Besigye that occurred during Monday 's walk to work . Police released him soon after with a warning . In a statement , a spokeswoman for the Uganda Police Force said the march in Kampala violated the laws governing peaceful demonstrations . `` This has occasioned lawlessness in some areas of the city suburbs , which included blocking roads , throwing stones and general disruption of day to day activities , '' said spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba . She said that police had asked Besigye to walk alone , without being accompanied by his supporters . His insistence on including them led to a standoff that lasted for three hours , `` at which time the gathered supporters became rowdy and started throwing stones and other objectives , '' she said . `` Police officers stepped in to break up the ensuing mob action . '' The report that Besigye was hurt `` in the ensuing scuffle '' is under investigation , she said . In February , Besigye lost in an election bid to replace President Yoweri Museveni , who has led the country since a rebel group with which he was aligned seized power in 1986 . Besigye , a former doctor to Museveni , lost previous presidential bids in 2001 and 2006 . Journalist Tom Walsh contributed to this story .
' I was shot in the hand , apparently by a rubber bullet . ` ` Just shortly after they started firing , I was hit '' The walk was intended to protest the fact that many can not afford public transport . A police spokesman said the march violated the law .