Ugandan Opposition Leader Kizza Besigye Hospitalised After Court Collapse

Veteran Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye has been rushed into intensive care in Kampala after collapsing during his treason trial, according to his wife, Winnie Byanyima, who leads the UN’s HIV/AIDS agency.

The 70-year-old, who has been in detention since November 2024, lost consciousness while objecting to the appointment of state lawyers to represent him in court. Byanyima described him on X as unconscious and unresponsive, unable to speak or react even to pain.

Besigye was seized in a dramatic 2024 abduction from Kenya and returned to Uganda, where he and his aide Obeid Lutale now face treason charges — allegations both men deny. Prosecutors claim the pair conspired to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni’s government. Treason carries the death penalty in Uganda.

Witnesses at Wednesday’s High Court hearing said Besigye repeatedly called out “stop” over his legal representation before collapsing. His wife said he cried out that he was being hurt just before losing consciousness, and that his sister — a doctor who was present in court — was initially barred from helping him.

He was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital but has refused treatment from government medical staff, insisting instead on care from his personal physician at a private clinic. Armed security officers are guarding the ICU wing where he’s being held, though reports indicate his sister has since been permitted to see him.

Besigye’s legal team has faced its own troubles: lead lawyer Erias Lukwago remains jailed after being detained by the army last month, while Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua was blocked from entering Uganda when she tried to represent him.

Pressure is mounting from Besigye’s family, opposition figures, and human rights groups for his release on medical grounds. His son, Adam Ampa, published an open letter appealing directly to Museveni and army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba for compassion, saying no son should watch his father reach such a state while facing the justice system he once served.

This isn’t Besigye’s first hospitalization in custody he was treated at a private clinic in February 2025 after a hunger strike over his detention, and was briefly hospitalized again earlier this year. Exiled opposition politician Bobi Wine called his condition in court a serious breach of his basic rights.

Besigye, who once served as Museveni’s personal physician before becoming his political rival in 1999, has run for president four times but sat out the 2021 election and has kept a lower political profile in recent years.