Kayihura, 62, was sacked by President Yoweri Museveni in March and was bitterly criticised for failing to solve a string of high profile murders, kidnappings, robberies and deaths.
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"He was picked (up) by the army in a helicopter on Wednesday from the farm in Lyantonde and brought to Kampala and is now held in the barracks," Kayihura's wife Angella told AFP.
"We don't know why he was arrested," she added.
Lyantonde, where Kayihura has a rural property, is about 200 kilometres (124 miles) west of the capital Kampala.
The former military officer fought alongside Museveni in the rebel war that brought the president to power in 1986.
Appointed inspector general of police in 2005, Kayihura was regarded as a strong loyalist willing to deploy officers to break up opposition protests and rallies.
Army spokesman Brigadier Richard Karemire confirmed Kayihura's detention, but would not be drawn on the reasons.
It is "true we have him and he is being questioned on matters I cannot at the moment go into," he told AFP.
Karemire said the former police chief was being held at Makindye barracks in Kampala.
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