He continues to resist despite his frail health: wife of jailed Ugandan politician Kizza Besigye
In November 2024, Ugandan Opposition politician Kizza Besigye was abducted in Kenya and returned to Uganda where he is facing treason charges. In my conversation with his wife Winnie Byanyima, she talks about his health, his work in human rights, and the state of human rights in Uganda. Besigye was, at one time, the personal doctor of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni who has ruled Uganda for 40 years now. During this period, the country’s human rights situation has deteriorated.
His health is not good, but he is strong in spirit
Besigye is strong in spirit. He continues to state his innocence, and he continues to remind people that all this is political and that you never give up what you believe in, what you stand for politically, just because you are being persecuted. So, he’s bearing it all with a lot of strength, but his health is not that good.
He’s very strong in spirit because he understands that he is there because he disagrees. He understands that he must endure, he must not allow those who have imprisoned him to win by breaking him. So, his spirit is strong and he holds on to his values and his beliefs and resists from prison.
For him, it’s a political struggle. It’s a struggle for democracy and human rights and that’s the price he has been asked to pay and he’s ready to pay it, but he would rather be at home with his family. He was abducted in November 2024 and brought before a military court and then later transferred to an ordinary prison. That’s where he’s been since. There’s a handful of them, about 10, in this little prison [cell], with a very small space for walking.
He was abducted in November 2024 and brought before a military court and then later transferred to an ordinary prison. That’s where he’s been since.
Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife
The prison conditions are awful. The cell where he sleeps is so tiny that when I went in, when he was on hunger strike, to sit beside his bed, I had to sit at an angle, because the room is so narrow. The ceiling is so high, the light comes in from the top but doesn’t reach where he’s sleeping. So, he is most of the time in near darkness. He sleeps on a thin mattress that’s infested with bed bugs that are always biting him and he is not allowed even to socialize with other prisoners and is almost completely isolated from them. He can’t go to church with them. He can’t play football. They’ve got spaces where they play games. He’s not allowed to step there.
Doctor, human rights crusader, and activist
Kizza Besigye turned 70 years old on April 22nd. He is a medical doctor; a career he started at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, while in exile.
Before that, he was a student activist. Back then [in the 70s], there was a new force of young people who wanted to change the politics of the country, to break out of being a neo-colonial state, to being a really independent state that’s just, equitable, and democratic. He joined them.
He went underground and joined a rebel group in Uganda, the National Resistance Army. He worked in the National Resistance Movement. There was an armed struggle. That’s where I met him because I too joined that revolution.
UNAIDS 45th PCB meeting.
He set up the political structures of the National Resistance Movement [(Uganda’s ruling party]). He also served as Minister for Internal Affairs as a junior minister. He later served in the military as head of logistics and engineering. He was a member of parliament, the National Resistance Council. He also served in the Constituent Assembly that made a new constitution.
When President Museveni deviated from the goals of the liberation movement, Besigye criticized the direction. He was dragged to the military court and accused of indiscipline. That was the beginning of their disagreements. President Museveni could not tolerate criticism.
He has firm beliefs in justice, democracy, rights, and the rule of law. He believes everyone should be equal before the law. Because of these beliefs, he has sacrificed greatly and invested his time in organizing the public and non‑violent resistance.
Winnie Byanyima
Besigye later challenged President Museveni in the 2001 election.
Since then, he has been in and out of prison continuously. He is among the most arrested opposition leaders on the continent. His life has been one of constant imprisonment and harassment for challenging Museveni.
He has firm beliefs in justice, democracy, rights, and the rule of law. He believes everyone should be equal before the law. Because of these beliefs, he has sacrificed greatly and invested his time in organizing the public and non‑violent resistance.
At the time of his abduction in Nairobi, he had no presidential ambitions. After multiple contested elections, he concluded elections could not bring change and committed to non‑violent resistance.
Inadequate judicial protection and fair trial concerns
His case has involved repeated legal violations, denial of bail, and judicial bias.
We will continue resisting peacefully and believe that change will come, because to be in a struggle for justice and human rights is a good way to live.
Winnie Byanyima
Senior political leaders have publicly declared him guilty and hundreds and thousands of Ugandans have suffered similar persecution. Democracy requires struggle and sacrifice.
We will continue resisting peacefully and believe that change will come, because to be in a struggle for justice and human rights is a good way to live.
Opposition leader Kizza Besigye needs urgent medical care
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