Former presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye has been wheeled to a clinic at Village Mall in Bugolobi following a hunger strike in Luzira Prison, Buhweju County MP Mwijukye Francis has revealed.
“Amidst very heavy security deployment, Dr. Besigye has been brought to a clinic on the third floor of Bugolobi Village Mall. He was being pushed in a wheelchair,” Mwijukye stated on X (formerly Twitter).
Earlier, the Minister for Information, Communication, and Technology said he had visited Besigye in the presence of his doctors and urged him to end his hunger strike.
“I have just visited Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye at Luzira Prison in the presence of his personal doctors. I have given him counsel and asked him to resume eating as the government fast-tracks the transfer of his case from the court martial to a civil court,” the minister said.
Dr. Besigye and Hajj Obedi Kamulegeya face multiple charges, including possession of firearms at Riverside Apartments in Nairobi, Kenya, and allegedly holding meetings in Greece and Switzerland with the intent to undermine the security of the Ugandan army.
The two were reportedly abducted last month while in Nairobi, where they had attended a book launch hosted by Kenyan opposition politician and lawyer Martha Karua. Karua is currently in Uganda, leading a team of 50 lawyers defending Dr. Besigye and Hajj Kamulegeya.
They had been appearing before the General Court Martial, but following a landmark Supreme Court ruling that reclassified the court martial as a disciplinary committee of the army, their case files are now awaiting transfer to the civil courts.
