KAMPALA (Reuters) – Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who went on a hunger strike last week, has been rushed to hospital after his health deteriorated, said an allied lawmaker and a local television broadcaster.
A long-time political opponent and critic of President Yoweri Museveni, Besigye has been in detention at a maximum security facility in the capital Kampala since November.
His lawyers say he was “kidnapped” in neighbouring Kenya where he had travelled and forcefully transported back to Uganda, where he was charged in the military’s General Court Martial (GCM) with various offences including illegal weapons possession.
“Amidst very heavy security deployment, Dr. Besigye has been brought to a clinic at Bugolobi Village Mall,” Francis Mwijukye, a lawmaker allied with Besigye, said in a post on the X platform late on Sunday, referring to a vast shopping mall in the Bugolobi suburb of Kampala.
“He was being pushed in a wheel chair.”
The local NTV broadcaster also reported late on Sunday that Besigye had been taken to the health facility and that the area was under “tight security”.
NTV quoted a family member as saying Besigye “is not in a good situation, the situation is bad”.
Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi said in a post on the X social media platform late on Sunday that the government was fast tracking the transfer of his case to civilian courts, effectively ending his military prosecution.
Last month Uganda’s Supreme Court in a ruling said civilians should not be prosecuted in military courts, calling it unconstitutional.
Many Ugandans, including fellow opposition leader, pop star Bobi Wine and a medical doctors association, took to social media over the weekend to express outrage and demand Besigye’s release and unrestricted access to him by his doctors.
The public anger and calls for his release mounted after Besigye was brought to court on Friday and appeared visibly weak, walking with difficulty and struggling to move his tongue to moisten his dry lips. His lawyers told local media last week after visiting him in prison that his health was deteriorating.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa and Michael Perry)
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