Detained Uganda Opposition Politician on Hunger Strike Taken to Hospital, Lawmaker Says

KAMPALA, Reuters: Detained Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who went on a hunger strike last week, has been rushed to hospital after his health deteriorated, an allied lawmaker and a local television broadcaster said.

A long-time political opponent and critic of President Yoweri Museveni, Besigye’s prosecution by a military court and near three-month incarceration has stoked public anger against the government.

Calls for his release have mounted, with pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who challenged Museveni for the presidency in the last election in 2021, warning that Besigye appeared close to death early Monday when he visited him in prison following his brief hospitalisation on Sunday.

“This man is actually dying, Dr. Besigye is in a terrible state, he can not leave his bed,” Wine told media after leaving the prison. “He collapsed this morning when they were trying to carry him out of his bed.”

Besigye’s lawyers say he was “kidnapped” while visiting neighbouring Kenya in November and forcefully transported back to Uganda, where he was charged in a military court with various offences including illegal weapons possession.

“Amidst very heavy security deployment, Dr. Besigye has been brought to a clinic at Bugolobi Village Mall,” Francis Mwijukye, a lawmaker allied with Besigye, said in a post on X late on Sunday, referring to a shopping mall in Kampala’s Bugolobi suburb.

“He was being pushed in a wheelchair,” he added.

The local NTV broadcaster also reported that Besigye had been taken to hospital.

The government is working on transferring his case from the military court to a civilian one, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi said in a post on X on Sunday.

Last month Uganda’s Supreme Court said in a ruling civilians should not be prosecuted in military courts, calling it unconstitutional.

Museveni, 80, has ruled Uganda with an iron grip since 1986 and is expected to seek re-election in polls next year. Human Rights Watch and other international watchdogs say Uganda’s rights record has continued to deteriorate under his rule.

On Friday, Besigye was brought to court and appeared visibly weak, walking with difficulty and struggling to move his tongue to moisten his lips.

Baryomunsi said while appearing on NBS Television on Monday that Besigye was taken to the clinic for routine medical checks.

“Because he is not taking food usually you get what they call electrolyte imbalance…so it wasn’t that he had gotten worse but they were just going to carry out routine medical checks in the clinic,” he said.