The former presidential candidate of Uganda, Kizza Besigye, has gone on a hunger strike, months after he was taken from nearby Kenya and placed under arrest.
Once the go-to personal physician for President Yoweri Museveni, Besigye has been targeted by the government ever since he joined the opposition 25 years ago and made four unsuccessful presidential runs.
He was abducted in November and has been facing the death penalty on treason charges in a court martial that his wife, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, has called a “sham.”
Lawyer Erias Lukwago told AFP after the action was reported in the media that Besigye, 68, started his protest on Monday because he “feels he has been left with no choice but to go on hunger strike.”
Credit: The Independent Uganda
Besigye has been waiting for a military trial since November, even though a court last month declared that civilians cannot be tried in a military court.
Lukwago said Besigye intended to “show his discontent with (his) illegal detention” through the protest.
“Unfortunately, we are noticing the toll of the hunger strike on his health,” he said, referring to Besigye’s inability to attend several court sessions scheduled on other counts because of his illness.
Apart from the treason charge, Besigye is also charged with inciting violence in 2022 for organising a demonstration against the exorbitant prices of necessities.
Uganda “cannot and will not abandon this useful instrument for stability,” according to President Yoweri Museveni, who rejected the Supreme Court’s decision last month to allow civilians to be tried in military courts.
Before the president’s remarks, an army spokesperson declared that “Colonel Kizza Besigye will not be released until he faces the full extent of martial law.”
The repression of Uganda’s political opposition in the lead-up to the 2026 presidential elections has drawn the attention of the UN and several human rights organisations.
