”He Can’t Eat, Talk Or Walk”-Byanyima Makes Alarm As Besigye Is ‘Swiftly’ Transfered To Luzira

By Swift Reporter

Jailed opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye has been returned to Luzira Prison after receiving treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital, with his wife, Winnie Byanyima, raising concern that he was transferred before fully recovering.

Besigye was taken back to prison shortly after 7pm on Friday, August 7, following several days of treatment at Mulago, where he had been admitted after falling ill during proceedings in his treason case.

Byanyima said Besigye remained physically weak when she left the hospital at about 4:30pm, claiming he was unable to walk without assistance, struggled to speak and could not feed himself.

“When I left KB at 4.30pm, he still could not walk or talk. At lunch, I fed him soft food with a spoon because his arms and hands remain very weak. He cannot yet care for himself,” she said.

She said the family had been helping Besigye with basic activities while he was receiving treatment, including feeding him.

Byanyima also questioned the decision to return him to Luzira, saying doctors had recommended that he remain at Mulago for rehabilitation.

According to her, a meeting involving Besigye’s family, his personal doctor, Mulago medical staff and a senior prisons official was held a day before the transfer.

She said doctors presented a rehabilitation programme for Besigye, while the prisons official acknowledged that Luzira could not provide the level of support he required in his current condition and recommended that he remain at the hospital during his recovery.

“We believed medical judgment would prevail. We were wrong,” Byanyima said.

She further claimed that Besigye was about to have dinner when prison officials arrived to take him back to Luzira.

“When they came for [Besigye] tonight, he was about to have his dinner. They did not even allow him to eat it,” she said.

Minister Says Besigye Is Recovering

The transfer occurred hours after Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi visited Besigye at Mulago on Friday morning and described him as steadily recovering.

“I paid a visit to Dr Kiiza Besigye today morning at Mulago Hospital, where he is hospitalised. He is steadily recuperating and I wished him quick recovery,” Baryomunsi said.

The minister also thanked the medical workers attending to the opposition politician.

Byanyima later questioned the timing of the transfer, saying the decision came after Baryomunsi’s visit. She asked who had authorised the move and why, in her view, the medical recommendations had not been followed.

Besigye’s health has become a major issue in his ongoing court case after he collapsed during proceedings at the High Court in Kampala last month.

The High Court subsequently directed Uganda Prisons to provide a medical report on his condition after concerns were raised about whether he was fit to continue participating in the proceedings.

Besigye, 70, is jointly charged with Hajj Obeid Lutale and Capt Denis Oola with treason-related offences. They have denied the charges.