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Prominent Uganda opposition figure kidnapped and jailed

November 20, 2024

Kizza Besigye is a longtime critic of strongman President Yoweri Museveni. Besigye's wife questioned why he was being held in military jail despite not being a soldier.

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Kizza Besigye in court
A one-time ally of President Museveni, Besigye has actively campaigned against him since 1999Image: Hajarah Nalwadda/AP/picture alliance

The wife of well-known opposition politician Kizza Besigye said on Wednesday that her husband had been kidnapped in Kenya and was now in jail in Uganda.

"I request the [government] of Uganda to release my husband Dr. Kizza Besigye, from where he is being held immediately," Winnie Byanyima said.

Besigye appeared Wednesday in a Kampala military court where he faced charges including unlawful possession of firearms. He was remanded to prison until December 2, according to a Reuters witness in court. He denied all charges brought against him. 

"We his family and his lawyers demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?" said Byanyima, who is the executive director of the United Nations HIV/AIDS agency (UNAIDS).

'Kidnapped' Ugandan opposition figure put on trial

Who is Kizza Besigye?

Born Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe, Besigye is a trained physician who was the personal doctor of now-President Yoweri Museveni when Museveni was a rebel leader in the 1980s.

He later, however, became a critic of Museveni's authoritarian rule, running against him in the country's contested elections of 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016.

Besigye is a member of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) political party and has been outspoken against Uganda's draconian anti-homosexuality law. He has faced numerous legal battles over his criticism of Museveni and his policies.

He was reportedly kidnapped in Kenya on Saturday during the launch of a book by veteran Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua.

Museveni government accused of rights abuses

Kenya has not yet officially commented on the incident, though authorities there did arrest and deport 36 members of the FDC in July over terrorism-related charges.

Outspoken critics of Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, have often ended up detained, many of them later claiming to have been tortured. Popular musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who has also run for president, has been put under house arrest multiple times.

The Ugandan government has not confirmed Byanyima's claims and has said it is looking into Besigye's disappearance.

es/sms (AP, Reuters)