Veteran Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye is reportedly in a critical and deteriorating health condition while held at Luzira Maximum Security Prison, his wife and global health leader Winnie Byanyima has said, raising urgent international concern.
Byanyima, who visited Besigye last week, described scenes that allies call inhumane and life-threatening, saying the longtime critic of President Yoweri Museveni is now so weak he can barely move without assistance. She disclosed that the 68-year-old former presidential candidate struggles to walk from his cell under his own strength and has eaten only minimal food over extended periods, a sign of severe physical decline.
The situation has deepened into an explosive political crisis, with Byanyima accusing prison authorities of refusing to transfer Besigye to a private clinic capable of providing comprehensive medical care, forcing his personal doctor to visit under constrained conditions. She said he was forced to return to a “bedbug-infested, oven-hot cell” after each examination and warned that his life could be at stake if the current course continues.
Besigye was extradited from Nairobi in late 2024 and has been held amid treason and security-related charges widely denounced by his supporters as politically motivated. He has spent months in detention under harsh conditions, with rights groups and opposition parties like the People’s Front for Freedom now amplifying warnings that his health crisis is reaching a critical threshold.
Prison authorities have denied claims that his condition is severe, saying health concerns are being managed and dismissing accusations of neglect, but Byanyima’s statements paint a contradictory and alarming picture that could inflame regional and international pressure.
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