SALIM SALEH: I found my friend Besigye almost dead in prison

What the report says

Retired Gen. Caleb Akandwanaho, also known as Salim Saleh, said he intervened to help opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye get medical care after finding him in a very poor condition at Luzira Prison. According to The Independent Uganda, Saleh made the remarks while speaking to parliamentary committee chairpersons at Namunkekera in Kapeeka, where he said he acted after receiving a message from Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The message reportedly said Besigye’s problem was his problem and asked him to handle the matter.

Saleh said he reconnected with Besigye after years of political distance and visited him in prison before arranging his transfer to the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC). He described JCRC as a place he helped establish and said it was the appropriate facility for intensive treatment. The report says Besigye had earlier collapsed during a High Court session in July 2026, was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital, and then moved to JCRC for further care.

The article places Saleh’s comments against the backdrop of Besigye’s long political conflict with President Yoweri Museveni’s government and the ongoing treason case against him, his aide Hajj Obeid Lutale and UPDF Capt. Denis Oola. The defendants deny the charges, and the case is before the High Court after earlier military-court proceedings were moved to civilian court following a Supreme Court ruling. The report notes that Saleh did not say any political deal or release arrangement had been reached.