By The Eye Media | Kampala | May 30, 2025
Winnie Byanyima, wife to embattled opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye, has made an emotional appeal to President Yoweri Museveni, urging him to “do justice” in the face of what she described as a politically charged trial against her husband.
Byanyima, who serves as the Executive Director of UNAIDS, voiced her frustration on Thursday after the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court denied Besigye bail for the second time and committed him to the High Court to face trial on high treason charges.
“This is not justice,” Byanyima said in a strongly-worded statement. “My husband and his co-accused have been in detention for more than 180 days. The law says they are entitled to mandatory bail, yet the court has denied it.
Their only crime is to disagree politically. I appeal to President Museveni to do justice—not only for my husband, but for all political prisoners detained without trial.”
Besigye, a former UPDF colonel and four-time presidential contender, is facing grave accusations alongside Hajj Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya and UPDF officer Capt. Denis Oola. The trio is accused of orchestrating a transnational plot to topple the NRM-led government through violent means.
The case, one of Uganda’s most explosive political trials in years, alleges that Besigye met foreign agents in Geneva in January 2024 to plot targeted political assassinations and acts of military sabotage.
Prosecutors presented damning details to court, including reports from a key informant, identified only as AW, who allegedly recorded multiple meetings with Besigye. According to the indictment, Besigye purportedly offered intelligence on President Museveni’s travel routes to facilitate an assassination plot using drone strikes.
The state further claims Besigye promised his alleged foreign collaborators access to Uganda’s banking system for money laundering, Ugandan airfields for trafficking illicit goods, and safe havens for fugitives if regime change succeeded.
Security installations reportedly marked for attack included Simba Barracks in Mbarara, Makenke Barracks, Bihanga Military School, Gaddafi Military Barracks in Mayuge, the Air Force Academy in Nakasongola, the Marine Division in Luzira, Kimaka Junior Staff College, Bwebajja Police School, and Oliver Tambo Military School in Kaweweta.
Besigye and his legal team have consistently dismissed the charges as politically motivated, accusing the state of weaponizing the judiciary ahead of the 2026 general elections.
Despite efforts by his lawyers to seek constitutional redress and a stay of proceedings, the High Court has ruled that the case will proceed before the International Crimes Division (ICD), where a conviction could carry life imprisonment.
