Uganda: Ugandan Opposition Leader Besigye in ICU After Collapsing in Court

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Nile Post report, says Ugandan opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye was taken to the intensive care unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital after collapsing in the dock during a treason trial session at the High Court in Kampala on Wednesday. His wife, Winnie Byanyima, said the 70-year-old was in critical condition after first being transported by ambulance to Mbuya Military Hospital and later transferred to Mulago under heavy security.

According to the report, Besigye collapsed while objecting to representation by court-appointed lawyers. The article says his own defence team had been disrupted because lead counsel Erias Lukwago is in detention and facing a charge linked to failure to report alleged treason. Witnesses cited in the report said Besigye interrupted proceedings before Justice Emmanuel Baguma, describing the trial as unlawful, shortly before he fell.

Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, said on social media that Besigye cried out about being injured before losing consciousness. She said he remained unresponsive and wanted access to his personal doctor rather than government medical staff. The report says that doctor, his sister Dr. Olive Kobusingye, was initially prevented from seeing him but later reached him in the ICU, which was guarded by armed personnel.

Besigye has been in custody since November 2024, after he and aide Obeid Lutale were arrested in Kenya and returned to Uganda. The case was first handled by a military tribunal before moving to a civilian court and being amended to treason, a capital offence. Both deny the allegations; supporters and lawyers say the case is politically driven. Besigye, a former ally of President Yoweri Museveni, has challenged him in four presidential elections.