Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been admitted to an intensive care unit in Kampala after collapsing and losing consciousness during his treason trial, according to his wife, Winnie Byanyima.
The 70-year-old, who has been in detention since November 2024 on treason charges he denies, collapsed during a hearing at the High Court after objecting to state-appointed lawyers representing him. Treason is a capital offence in Uganda and carries a possible death sentence upon conviction.
Byanyima, who heads the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, said Besigye was unconscious, unable to speak and unresponsive after the incident. “He is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus,” she wrote on X.
Witnesses said Besigye repeatedly shouted “stop” while protesting the appointment of state lawyers before collapsing in court. Prison guards rushed him to hospital after he fell.
“Before he collapsed, he cried out that he was being injured,” Byanyima said, adding that Besigye’s sister, Dr Olive Kobusingye, who was present in court, was initially prevented from attending to him.
Besigye was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital, Uganda’s largest public hospital, where he reportedly refused treatment from government medical personnel. “He will not allow any government official to touch him,” Byanyima said.
She called on authorities to allow Besigye to receive treatment from his personal physician at a private medical facility instead of a government hospital.
Reports said the ICU where Besigye is being treated is under heavy security, with armed officers guarding the unit. His sister, who is also his personal doctor, has since been allowed to see him.
Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, was arrested in Kenya in November 2024 and returned to Uganda, where he has remained in custody alongside his aide, Obeid Lutale.
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Both men have been charged with treason over allegations that they plotted to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni’s government. They have denied the charges.
His legal team has also faced mounting pressure. Lead lawyer Erias Lukwago was arrested last month and charged with allegedly failing to report acts of treason.
Another senior lawyer, Kenyan politician Martha Karua, was barred from entering Uganda when she travelled to represent Besigye.
Human rights groups, opposition figures and Besigye’s family have repeatedly called for his release on medical grounds.
On Wednesday, Besigye’s son, Adam Ampa, appealed to President Museveni and Uganda’s army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to release his father on humanitarian grounds.
“Regardless of politics, no son should have to witness his father reach such a state while standing before the very law he served and dedicated his life,” Ampa wrote in an open letter shared on social media.
This is not the first time Besigye has required hospital treatment during his detention. In February 2025, he was admitted to a private clinic after his health deteriorated during a hunger strike protesting his continued detention. He was hospitalized again briefly earlier this year.
Opposition politician Bobi Wine condemned Besigye’s appearance in court while visibly ill, describing it as “a shocking violation of his most basic rights.”
Besigye, once President Museveni’s personal physician, broke ranks with the long-serving leader in 1999 and went on to become one of Uganda’s most prominent opposition figures.
Although he has been less active in recent years, he remains a key symbol of political opposition in the country and did not contest the 2021 presidential election.
BBC
