A prominent Ugandan opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, has begun a hunger strike while on trial in a military tribunal, his wife Winnie Byanyima revealed. This comes just two weeks after Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled that civilians should not be tried in military courts.
President Yoweri Museveni, however, insists that his government will continue prosecuting civilians in military courts despite the ruling. Meanwhile, Uganda’s prisons spokesperson, Frank Baine, denied that Besigye is on hunger strike, stating, “Besigye is OK and he is not on a hunger strike.”
Besigye, a longtime critic of Museveni, was allegedly abducted in neighboring Kenya last November before being brought back to Uganda, where he now faces charges of illegal possession of firearms and treachery—an offense punishable by death.
“Kizza Besigye is on hunger strike, detained illegally by a regime that fears his defiance more than it respects the law,” Byanyima, who is also the executive director of UNAIDS, wrote on X. “They think they can break his spirit, but they underestimate his resolve. He will not yield while the regime tramples on justice.”
Once Museveni’s personal doctor during the 1980s bush war, Besigye later became one of his fiercest political opponents. He ran against Museveni in four presidential elections, rejecting the results each time over alleged irregularities—claims the government denies.
Human rights activists continue to accuse Museveni’s government of widespread abuses, including torture and arbitrary detentions, allegations the government repeatedly refutes.
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