Kizza Besigye, the country’s veteran opposition leader, is extremely unwell in prison, his wife has said, raising fresh questions about the treatment of political detainees under President Yoweri Museveni’s government.
“He is extremely weak,” Winnie Byanyima said in a statement posted on X after visiting her husband at Luzira Prison in Kampala.
Mr Besigye, 69, was taken overnight to a medical facility, according to his party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF). The party did not specify his illness, but said his condition had worsened sharply.
Prison authorities rejected suggestions that his health was critical. A spokesperson described the hospital visit as a routine “general check-up” and said he remained under standard medical supervision.
Yet Ms Byanyima painted a far bleaker picture. She said her husband was struggling to walk and complained of severe pain in his legs. She added that he was suffering from an infection that was worsening without proper care.
When she saw him, she said, he was “huddled on a dirty plastic chair” in a small room near his cell, where he had been returned after receiving treatment late at night.
Ms Byanyima, a prominent human rights advocate and the head of UNAids, dismissed the prison service’s account as misleading.
“This is a cover-up,” she said, urging authorities to move him to a fully equipped hospital.
Mr Besigye, once President Museveni’s personal doctor, has long been one of his most formidable political rivals. He has run for the presidency four times and spent much of his political life in and out of detention.
He has been held since November 2024, alongside his associate Obeid Lutale, after the two were seized in Kenya and forcibly returned to Uganda, an incident that drew regional and international concern.
Both men face charges in a military court, including treason, which carries the death penalty, as well as illegal possession of a firearm and threatening national security. They deny all accusations.
Last month, a court rejected their bail request for the fourth time, saying proceedings had not yet reached the plea stage.
In a statement this week, the PFF accused the authorities of denying Mr Besigye proper medical treatment, calling his continued detention a violation of basic rights.
“It is a tragedy that a man who has dedicated his life to the health and freedom of others is being denied his own right to medical dignity,” the party said, adding that it held the government fully responsible for his well-being.
The Uganda Prison Service pushed back strongly.
“Kizza Besigye receives necessary treatment like other prisoners and he is fine,” said spokesperson Frank Baine. “This morning he was doing his exercises.”
Opposition figures remain unconvinced. Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, expressed solidarity with Mr Besigye, saying his condition appeared to be deteriorating in detention.
“We stand fully with him and pray for his recovery,” he wrote on X.
This is not the first time concerns have surfaced over Mr Besigye’s health behind bars. Last year, he was reported to be critically ill after embarking on a hunger strike, demanding justice and fair treatment.
In recent years, he had stepped back from frontline politics and did not contest Uganda’s general election earlier this month.
That vote returned President Museveni to office with 72 per cent of the tally, according to official results. Mr Kyagulanyi, who placed second with 25 per cent, rejected the outcome as fraudulent and has since said he fears for his safety.
President Museveni, in past remarks, has blamed Mr Besigye and his lawyers for delays in the case, arguing that procedural disputes have prolonged his detention.
Still, calls for his release on medical grounds are growing louder from his family, opposition leaders and human rights groups.
For now, the man who once stood at the centre of Uganda’s political resistance remains behind prison walls, his condition disputed, and his fate uncertain.
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