By Jamil Kato
Veteran Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared in a military court in Kampala on Wednesday accused of seeking to compromise national security, after his reported abduction in neighbouring Kenya at the weekend.
The manner of Besigye’s detention has caused an uproar, with concerns over Kenya’s role and the heightened government crackdown on Uganda’s opposition.
Besigye, 68, a medical doctor and longtime critic of President Yoweri Museveni, was brought to the General Court Martial in the Ugandan capital under a heavily armed military escort.
He appeared in the dock with another opposition figure, Hajji Lutale Kamulegeya, who was also snatched in Nairobi, his lawyer Erias Lukwago said.
The prosecution alleges they were in possession of two pistols and had “solicited logistical support in Uganda, Greece and other countries with the aim of compromising the country’s national security”, Lukwago said.
“He has denied the charges and challenged the court’s jurisdiction to try him and he has been remanded to Luzira prison until December 2.”
Besigye, a retired army colonel, insisted that he was now a civilian and should not be tried in a military tribunal.
Once Museveni’s personal physician only to fall out with the president, Besigye has run unsuccessfully against him in elections four times since 2001 and been repeatedly targeted by the regime.
His wife Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, said on X that her husband was kidnapped Saturday while in Nairobi for a book launch by Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua.
In recent months, the Ugandan authorities have waged a crackdown on the opposition, arresting prominent leaders and putting dozens of people on trial.
In July, 36 members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) — the party Besigye founded two decades ago — were deported from Kenya and tried in Uganda on terrorism charges.
– ‘Can Be Arrested Anywhere’ –
Besigye recently broke from the FDC, forming a new party called the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), of which his co-accused is also a member.
Ugandan government spokesman Chris Baryomunsi sought to justify the arrests, telling reporters: “You can be arrested from anywhere because countries have treaties or instruments that they signed between them that allow for extradition.”
Rights groups and opposition figures are increasingly concerned that Kenya is colluding in the kidnapping of foreign nationals on its soil.
Last month, Kenya’s government admitted to repatriating four Turkish refugees, following reports they were abducted and forcibly returned without due process.
The Pan-African Opposition Leaders Solidarity Network said Besigye’s extradition was “deeply disturbing”.
“This emerging pattern of abduction/kidnapping of foreign nationals from Kenyan soil, followed by illegal and forced return and detention in their home countries does not bode well for us in East Africa,” it said in a statement.
– ‘Back To Dark Days’ –
Bobi Wine, another prominent Ugandan opposition leader and former presidential candidate who has been arrested multiple times, also voiced outrage.
“We condemn this blatant abuse of the law by the regime here in Uganda, and sadly the authorities in Kenya,” he said in a post on X.
