The Hoima Post – Trustable News 24 -7
Uganda’s veteran opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye remains in a fragile condition despite showing slight improvement, according to his wife Winnie Byanyima, who visited him at Luzira Maximum Security Prison last Friday.
In a statement posted on X, Byanyima said Besigye was too weak to walk from his cell to the visitors’ reception and had to be seen in a small office next to his cell.
Byanyima noted that by Friday, Besigye had begun responding, slowly and painfully to treatment. She expressed gratitude to his personal doctor, who has been making repeated trips to the prison to attend to him.
“This is not care. This is punishment,” she remarked.
She accused authorities of deliberately denying Besigye the medical care he needs, saying the conditions under which he is being held are unhealthy and dangerous to his recovery.
Byanyima questioned why Besigye, who is presumed innocent under the law, continues to be treated with what she described as cruelty and inhumanity, noting that he has been denied bail four times.
She further held President Yoweri Museveni and his son, the Chief of Defence Forces, responsible for Besigye’s condition.
“We demand his immediate release on bail. We demand access to proper medical care now. We demand an end to the deliberate cruelty being inflicted on him,” she said.
“Fellow Ugandan’s, medical professionals, religious leaders, and the international community do not look away. Silence will make you complicit. Dr Kizza Besigye’s life matters. His rights matter,” she added.
He was arrested alongside his associate Obeid Lutale after the two were seized in Kenya and returned to Uganda.
This is not the first time Besigye has reportedly fallen ill while detained at Luzira Prison. In February last year, he was said to be critically ill after going on a hunger strike demanding justice.
There have been growing calls from his family, opposition leaders, and human rights groups for his release on medical grounds. President Museveni has previously blamed Besigye and his legal team for delays in the trial, which he said had contributed to his continued detention.
