The Executive Director of The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and wife of jailed opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye, Dr Winnie Byanyima, has revealed that he is conscious but remains very weak and unable to speak following his collapse at the High Court at the beginning of his treason trial.
While addressing journalists on Monday after checking on her husband at the Mulago National Referral Hospital (ICU), Byanyima revealed that she was shocked at Besigye’s state describing him drained, looking very weak and unable to talk.
“He is very drained, he looked very weak, he remained asleep for a long time, when he could open his eyes, he still cannot talk, he just shakes his head and shakes his hands” she said.
She added, “When he could open his eyes, he still cannot talk. He’s not able to write. I asked him to write a note to me, but his hands are not stable, he cannot write”.
She however revealed that there was a slight improvement on his feeding since the doctors had removed him from the intravenous feeding, which he had been placed on since his arrival at the ICU.
“Today, he has made some progress from what I am told, I was able to give him a lot of food, soft food that he ate, and as his family we also prepared for him a soup. For the first time, today they have removed the intravenous feeding, so there was a sense of progress” she said.
Dr Byanyima further condemned his continued detention in prison, which she noted was an abuse on his constitutional freedom.
“He has a right to life, he has a right to proper medical care, he has a right to a fair hearing in an independent and impartial court. These are not privileges, they are rights, and they are rights for every Ugandan and human being”
She added, “I’m not asking for favours, I’m not asking anyone to bend the law…. Dr Besigye’s rights, if they are ignored, then the rights of other Ugandans too are less secure”.
Byanyima further expressed dismay at the country’s judiciary, which she said has been unfair to the veteran opposition leader, who has been in detention since late 2024 after he was abducted in Kenya and returned to Uganda.
“This moment should remind us that the rule of law exists to protect every citizen equally, no matter what your political opinion, no matter what your position in society. The true measure of a nation is not how well it treats those in power, but it is how it treats those who disagree with those in power, that’s the real test of a nation and we are failing that test as Uganda” she said.
Besigye is currently facing trial for treason before the High Court alongside his aide Hajji Obeid Lutale.
