From Prison Hospital Bed To Prison Cells: ‘The World Is Watching Uganda Over Besigye’
By Black Star News Photos: YouTube Screenshots Much as the psychiatrist consultants at Uganda’s largest correctional facility in the outskirts of the capital, Kampala, have found out that the jailed, but ailing opposition politician, Dr. Kizza Besigye, is unable to speak, his treason case trial has continued “in the interest of justice”. State witness Andrew Wilson Orlando, proceeded with the playing of video recordings pinning Besigye and his two co-accused on August 24. Besigye and his co-accused aide Obeid Lutale have no legal representation in the on-going treason trial having declined State-appointed lawyers. The trio deny the charges. Besigye’s defense legal team has been scuttled: Lead counsel Erias Lukwago is jailed on misprision of treason charges in which the State alleges that he failed or refused to report that his client Besigye was about topple government forcibly. Yet another of Besigye’s senior counsel Martha Karua—Kenya’s former Justice minister—was detained at Uganda’s airport in Entebbe, declared persona non-grata and immediately deported back to Nairobi. Besigye collapsed in court on July 29 as he protested being unrepresented. He was evacuated in an ambulance to the country’s National Referral Hospital Intensive Care Unit where he remained unconscious for several days. Ten days later, the military bundled him back to prison. In the reason for referral, however; “Dr. Kizza Besigye was referred for psychiatric assessment to determine his fitness to stand trial, and specifically, his ability to understand the court proceedings and participate meaningfully in his defense. The patient’s ability to provide information verbally or in writing was limited by his current communication impairment,” a psychiatric report from Luzira Staff Hospital dated August 16, 2026, reads, in part. “Information obtained from him was therefore elicited through pointing to letters and numbers, which took much longer time than was expected. This involved asking a question and he would respond by pointing to the appropriate letters and numbers for his communication…He was unable to produce verbal speech. His inability to speak appeared to represent a significant expressive communication impairment. It was difficult to engage him in a detailed conversation. The patient was unable to communicate through writing. He communicated by pointing to individual letters and numbers to formulate responses. His comprehension appeared preserved…,” the psychiatric expert report continues. Be that as it may, Besigye— of whom it is said can neither speak, write, nor stand, and therefore unfit to stand trial—was subsequently whisked away from his prison hospital bed to the prison cells to the great consternation of the great many. And leading the bewilderment queue was his ‘better-half’, who heads UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima: “I am hurt, angry and anxious. Kizza Besigye has been returned to his prison cell and his sisters who have been caring for him at the prison hospital have been sent away. He is still extremely weak and needs family care. Prison conditions will undermine his recovery. Yet [trial] Judge [Emmanuel] Baguma has brushed aside his medical condition and carried on with his sham trial. They may even carry him to court tomorrow [August 24].” Court, however, proceeded with State witness testimony in the absence of Besigye on August 24. According to Besigye’s political party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), the state’s desperation to execute a predetermined political trial while completely disregarding human rights, basic decency and the rule of law keeps on being exposed. “Prisons Officer Hiire claimed under oath that Dr Besigye declined to attend court via Zoom, a lie aimed at covering up his critical condition. Official medical reports from Luzira Prison staff confirm that Dr Besigye is currently unable to speak, write, follow proceedings or communicate with his legal team. Despite clear medical evidence showing an incapacitated defendant, Mr Baguma insisted the trial proceed, hiding behind the guise of the ‘interest of justice’. A trial where medical reports are concealed, witnesses fabricate accounts under oath and an incapacitated political prisoner cannot follow court proceedings, is not justice but state-sponsored persecution. Lies may buy time, but truth commands the final word. The world is watching,” PFF puffs on August 23. The PFF strongly condemns what it calls the “continued harassment, unlawful confinement and blatant disregard for human dignity demonstrated by the state in the ongoing mistreatment” of Dr Kizza Besigye. “Dr Besigye has been forcibly removed from medical oversight, wrapped up and hauled into detention cells while in an extreme state of physical debilitation. His caregivers have been chased away from Luzira Staff Hospital. This marks a grave escalation in this political persecution. Dr Besigye is currently in a critical condition where he cannot walk, speak or hold
Black News 
By Black Star News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
Much as the psychiatrist consultants at Uganda’s largest correctional facility in the outskirts of the capital, Kampala, have found out that the jailed, but ailing opposition politician, Dr. Kizza Besigye, is unable to speak, his treason case trial has continued “in the interest of justice”. State witness Andrew Wilson Orlando, proceeded with the playing of video recordings pinning Besigye and his two co-accused on August 24. Besigye and his co-accused aide Obeid Lutale have no legal representation in the on-going treason trial having declined State-appointed lawyers. The trio deny the charges. Besigye’s defense legal team has been scuttled: Lead counsel Erias Lukwago is jailed on misprision of treason charges in which the State alleges that he failed or refused to report that his client Besigye was about topple government forcibly. Yet another of Besigye’s senior counsel Martha Karua—Kenya’s former Justice minister—was detained at Uganda’s airport in Entebbe, declared persona non-grata and immediately deported back to Nairobi.
Besigye collapsed in court on July 29 as he protested being unrepresented. He was evacuated in an ambulance to the country’s National Referral Hospital Intensive Care Unit where he remained unconscious for several days. Ten days later, the military bundled him back to prison.
In the reason for referral, however; “Dr. Kizza Besigye was referred for psychiatric assessment to determine his fitness to stand trial, and specifically, his ability to understand the court proceedings and participate meaningfully in his defense. The patient’s ability to provide information verbally or in writing was limited by his current communication impairment,” a psychiatric report from Luzira Staff Hospital dated August 16, 2026, reads, in part. “Information obtained from him was therefore elicited through pointing to letters and numbers, which took much longer time than was expected. This involved asking a question and he would respond by pointing to the appropriate letters and numbers for his communication…He was unable to produce verbal speech. His inability to speak appeared to represent a significant expressive communication impairment. It was difficult to engage him in a detailed conversation. The patient was unable to communicate through writing. He communicated by pointing to individual letters and numbers to formulate responses. His comprehension appeared preserved…,” the psychiatric expert report continues.
Be that as it may, Besigye— of whom it is said can neither speak, write, nor stand, and therefore unfit to stand trial—was subsequently whisked away from his prison hospital bed to the prison cells to the great consternation of the great many. And leading the bewilderment queue was his ‘better-half’, who heads UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima: “I am hurt, angry and anxious. Kizza Besigye has been returned to his prison cell and his sisters who have been caring for him at the prison hospital have been sent away. He is still extremely weak and needs family care. Prison conditions will undermine his recovery. Yet [trial] Judge [Emmanuel] Baguma has brushed aside his medical condition and carried on with his sham trial. They may even carry him to court tomorrow [August 24].”
Court, however, proceeded with State witness testimony in the absence of Besigye on August 24.
According to Besigye’s political party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), the state’s desperation to execute a predetermined political trial while completely disregarding human rights, basic decency and the rule of law keeps on being exposed. “Prisons Officer Hiire claimed under oath that Dr Besigye declined to attend court via Zoom, a lie aimed at covering up his critical condition. Official medical reports from Luzira Prison staff confirm that Dr Besigye is currently unable to speak, write, follow proceedings or communicate with his legal team. Despite clear medical evidence showing an incapacitated defendant, Mr Baguma insisted the trial proceed, hiding behind the guise of the ‘interest of justice’. A trial where medical reports are concealed, witnesses fabricate accounts under oath and an incapacitated political prisoner cannot follow court proceedings, is not justice but state-sponsored persecution. Lies may buy time, but truth commands the final word. The world is watching,” PFF puffs on August 23.
The PFF strongly condemns what it calls the “continued harassment, unlawful confinement and blatant disregard for human dignity demonstrated by the state in the ongoing mistreatment” of Dr Kizza Besigye. “Dr Besigye has been forcibly removed from medical oversight, wrapped up and hauled into detention cells while in an extreme state of physical debilitation. His caregivers have been chased away from Luzira Staff Hospital. This marks a grave escalation in this political persecution. Dr Besigye is currently in a critical condition where he cannot walk, speak or hold objects. Placing an individual in such severe physical distress into detention cells is reckless, cruel and violates basic human rights standards. The state’s deliberate action to dismiss and chase away his primary caregivers,” according to the PFF, “leaving him completely unassisted and without essential care, amounts to deliberate negligence and psychological torture. Denying a critically incapacitated citizen access to specialized care, legal counsel and personal support is a direct violation of constitutional protections and international conventions on human rights.”
The party says the regime must take full responsibility for Dr Besigye’s health, safety and physical well-being while under state custody. “We call upon all citizens, civil society organizations and the international community to speak out against this cruelty and demand the immediate restoration of Dr Besigye’s rights and proper medical care.”
PFF’s parent party, the formerly main opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) registered by Besigye in December 2004 weighed-in; in solidarity with its founding father: “The continued inhumane treatment of Dr Besigye is deeply disturbing! A person who is unable to speak or feed himself requires urgent medical attention, access to his family [and] medical team, not an infested room in Luzira Upper Prison. Dr Besigye’s health [and] rights must be respected,” FDC hissed on August 24. “They tried to turn Kizza Besigye’s hospital bed into a dock. They are determined to convict him and nothing, not the law, not even the Constitution,” so claims Byanyima, “will stand in their way. Kizza Besigye is struggling to recover. His health and his right to life must come first. It is painful to watch him being treated with such cruelty. If they can do this to him [Besigye], no Ugandan who speaks out is safe. We must claim our rights. We must defend our Constitution.”
At the time of filing this article, no reaction whatsoever had emanated from neither the State nor Prisons authorities regarding whisking the sick Besigye from the prison hospital bed to the prison cells where he allegedly cannot support himself.
