Besigye Goes on Hunger Strike to Protest his Detention

Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye has gone on a hunger strike at Luzira Prison in Kampala.

His aides say Besigye is complaining about his continued detention following a ruling by the country’s supreme court last month that barred military courts from trying civilians.

Harold Kaija, a political aide to Besigye’s People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) party, has confirmed the leader’s move to go on a hunger strike.

“Yes, it’s true. He has started a hunger strike. We believe he is doing this as a measure to continue keeping him in prison – he should be at home,” Kaija told the BBC.

He added that the PFF is cooperating with relevant authorities to ensure Besigye’s release.

Besigye, a former personal physician to President Yoweri Museveni, was arrested in suspicious circumstances in November last year in Nairobi along with his political aide, Obeid Lutale.

The two were later brought before a military court in Kampala, where they were charged with illegal possession of weapons and ammunition—charges they deny.

In a landmark ruling last month, Uganda’s Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional for military courts to try civilians, and ordered all such cases to be transferred to civilian courts.

The decision angered President Museveni, who dismissed it as a “wrong decision” and vowed to challenge it.

Meanwhile, Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, is expected to appear before a civil court today for a hearing on a 2022 case in which he is accused of holding an illegal protest.

By: BBC