Uganda: ‘You’re Raping Our Constitution,’ ICU-bound Besigye Tells Judge

By Black Star News

Photos: YouTube Screenshots

At the time of piercing this article together said to be “unconscious” and “unresponsive to stimulus” in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the collapse in court of veteran opposition doyen Uganda has ever had in building resilient dissent during Gen Yoweri Museveni’s so far 40-year tenure, Dr. Kizza Besigye, has re-ignited doubts over the independence of the Judiciary in Uganda. The third arm of the State is largely seen as malleable to the whims and directives of the first arm of the State—The Executive. “This is not a court! I’ve read you the laws, which laws are you following; if you can’t follow the laws of Uganda?”

Besigye asked his treason case trial judge Emmanuel Baguma of the Criminal Division of the High Court sitting in Kampala on July 29. “Court is proceeding to do wrong things, in my view. It’s my duty as a citizen to stop it. I’ll not stay in the hopeless court. You can continue to try me in my absentia. I’ll not continue with this criminal record. If I stay, I’ll not allow you to proceed. No way! We shall not allow this nonsense! You have abused our country enough. I’ll not allow you to continue abusing our country, abusing our constitution, abusing the laws. I’ll not allow you! You can get me out but you won’t keep me here quiet! No way! You can take your papers and you can take my mouth also. My mouth will continue talking. I’ll say no!

“You’re raping our constitution. You’re raping our courts. You’re raping the law. We shall not allow this! I’ll make an alarm for the whole country to know what’s going on here. This nonsense must stop! This nonsense must stop! You can continue without me if you want. You can drag my mouth if you want. I’ll not keep quiet. I’ll not allow this nonsense to continue,” Besigye shouted in the courtroom before collapsing.

Philosophy teacher, cartoonist and columnist Jim Spire Ssentongo, tells Baguma on July 29 that generations and generations “will remember Mr. Baguma in the field of law and injustice”.

“While a lot has happened in recent times,” Ssentongo says of Baguma, “he seems to be committed to setting the lowest bar possible in the country’s judicial history! Whatever his motivation, it must be bigger than life or any principles. The worst seems to be yet to come though, because they’re handling a man who seems to be ready to die in their hands, if it’s what it would take to resist injustice.”

 Besigye’s wife, UNAIDS Executive Director, aeronautical engineer Winnie Byanyima says she should be joined in praying—and demanding justice—for her husband, Besigye.

“He has been admitted to the ICU at Mulago Hospital. He is unconscious, unable to speak and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus. Before he collapsed, he cried out that he was being injured. His sister, Dr. Kobusingye, was in court but was not allowed to attend to him. What happened to KB? One day, @KagutaMuseveni and his son @mkainerugaba will have to answer that question,” Byanyima cried out in the July 30 post on X.

Besigye, his aide Hajji Obeid Lutale and Capt Denis Oola are jointly charged with treason. They have been denied bail since their detention in November 2024.

“I have learnt that @kizzabesigye1 has been taken to Mulago Hospital. He will not allow any government official to touch him. His personal doctor examined him in prison just three hours ago, determined that he urgently needed treatment at her clinic and has still not been allowed to care for him. Denying @kizzabesigye1 his lawyers. Denying him access to his own doctor. They are injustices no family should have to endure. We continue to demand justice for @kizzabesigye1,” Besigye’s wife said. When Besigye collapsed in court, his wife Byanyima’s pleas fell on deaf ears of the State: “I am demanding that my spouse @kizzabesigye1 is taken to see his personal doctor at her clinic in Bugolobi [a suburb in the capital, Kampala] NOW. He has collapsed in court and was returned to prison. His doctor is concerned about his health. Dr @kizzabesigye1 has insisted NOT to be treated at a govt hospital. He does not trust any institution under the control of @KagutaMuseveni and his son @mkainerugaba.”

And, according to lawyer Jude Byamukama, it is in the best interest of the State and the Judiciary to have Dr. Besigye healthy and free to be subjected to a fair trial over the treason charge. “In my humble opinion, the most feasible option to have a fair trial, in the eyes of all fair-minded people, is to release him on bail and let him attend to his health as well as prepare his defense with or without counsel. As it stands, the trial has become a Soviet show trial that likely benefits no one,” he tweets on July 29.

Besigye collapsed after strongly protesting court proceedings with State-appointed lawyers replacing his defense team of Kenya’s former Justice minister, Martha Karua and Kampala Lord Mayor Emeritus, senior Counsel Erias Lukwago.

“What transpired today [July 29] in Court is a complete mockery of the law. Forcing a historical leader like Dr Kizza Besigye to be ‘represented’ by State-appointed lawyers that he has never met, after his actual defense team was systematically targeted, jailed and deported is the absolute lowest point for our judiciary. Injustice Emmanuel Baguma is an executioner of a political mission. A trial cannot be fair when the judge comfortably strips away the basic constitutional right to legal representation. Absolute shame!” says Kampala’s Deputy Lord Mayoress Emeritus, Doreen Nyanjura Omutatina.

Karua, Besigye’s lead senior counsel of choice, was deported on June 22 after having her passport stamped at Uganda’s only International Airport in Entebbe near the capital, Kampala. She had landed to stand in solidarity with yet another of Besigye’s preferred senior counsel, Lukwago. In the early morning of June 15, Lukwago woke up to realize that his home precinct in Kampala was under the siege of heavily-armed military personnel who went on to abduct and hold him incommunicado for two straight days. On June 17, he was dumped at a police station. Police then produced him before the Chief Magistrate’s Court where he was charged with misprision of treason in which the State alleges that as Besigye’s lead counsel, he refused or failed to report that his client was about to overthrow the government by force of arms. The Chief Magistrate later denied the sickly Lukwago bail and instead committed him to the High Court. Again on July 29, High Court Judge David Matovu, denied Lukwago bail claiming that he did not attach a medical report certified by a medical officer of prisons confirming that his health condition cannot be managed in prison. Doctors at the National Referral Hospital in Mulago, Kampala, have recommended that Lukwago goes for specialized medical treatment in India.

“Absolute shame on our courts. Shame to Pontius Pilate Baguma Emmanuel. How do you continue a trial when the primary accused person [Besigye] is unconscious in the ICU? Forcing Hajji Obeid Lutale and Capt Oola through a sham while @kizzabesigye1 is hospitalized proves this isn’t justice; it’s persecution. Baguma’s incompetence at its peak!” laments Nyanjura on July 30. Baguma has, meanwhile, adjourned court to August 4 after ordering prison authorities to file Besigye’s detailed medical report. A letter from Prison had informed Baguma that the unwell Besigye could not attend the July 30 court proceedings.