Veteran opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye on Sunday, November, 16, marked one year in detention, alongside his aide Obeid Lutale, following their arrest in Kenya and subsequent transfer to Uganda in November 2024.
The duo was arrested in Nairobi on 16th November 2024 before being returned to Uganda, where they were immediately taken to Luzira prison.
Upon arrival, they were arraigned before the military court on treason-related charges.
Their trial before the military court stalled after activist Michael Kabaziguruka successfully petitioned the Supreme Court, which ruled that trying civilians in military courts was unconstitutional, ordering all such cases to be transferred to civilian courts.
Following the ruling, Besigye and Lutale were officially charged with treason before the High Court.
However, months after the Supreme Court decision, Parliament controversially passed the UPDF Amendment Bill, granting the military renewed powers to try civilians. President Museveni later assented to the bill, sparking national and international criticism.
Despite numerous court appearances over the past year, Besigye has not been granted bail. His two-week hunger strike earlier this year raised concern after he appeared in court in visibly deteriorated health, drawing widespread attention to his continued detention.
As he completed one year behind bars, his wife Winnie Byanyima penned an emotional tribute on her X (formerly Twitter) handle, demanding justice and calling for his release.
“It is now one year since my spouse, Dr. Kizza Besigye, was abducted from Nairobi and taken to prison in Uganda. A year later, the case against him has not moved in court. Endless injustice: military detention, illegal confinement, denial of bail. A justice system captured,” Byanyima wrote.
“Why is he being held? Because he has different views. Because he has dared to compete for the presidency. Because in Uganda, dissent is treated as a crime—and those who challenge authoritarian rule are punished rather than heard.”
She added that Besigye’s situation reflects the experiences of “countless Ugandans, especially young activists, who disappear, are detained without charge, tortured, or even killed,” warning that “our nation’s future is being brutalised into silence.”
Byanyima also highlighted her husband’s legacy.
“Allow me to remind you who Kizza Besigye is. He is a national hero who escaped illegal detention under the Obote II regime. He fled to exile, but when Uganda needed him, he returned to join the struggle for freedom… He fought in all major battles as one of only two doctors in the NRA, and saved countless lives, including as Museveni’s personal doctor.”
She recalled his role as National Political Commissar, a member of the NRC and the Constituent Assembly, and his long-running clash with President Museveni that began when “personal rule replaced national transformation.”
“Through it all, KB has never wavered… No amount of imprisonment or persecution can make him abandon the struggle for a free Uganda,” she wrote, calling on “Gen. Museveni and the captured judiciary to free Dr Besigye and Obeid Lutale.”
Byanyima also extended gratitude to legal teams standing with Besigye, describing their work as keeping “hope alive.”
As Besigye’s detention enters its second year, questions continue to mount about the state of Uganda’s justice system, the limits of dissent, and the country’s human rights record.
