EDITOR
Eng Winnie Byanyima, the wife of opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, has accused Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and his son, the army commander, of personally overseeing the imprisonment of her husband, describing him as a “captive” rather than a prisoner.
In an emotional statement on Tuesday, Byanyima claimed that Dr Besigye is not being held by Uganda’s prison authorities, but rather by Museveni and his son, who she alleges are in control of his detention.
“Dr Besigye isn’t a prisoner held by the prisons authority, no, he is a captive of Mr Museveni and his son the army commander,” Byanyima said. “They are the ones who are holding him. They have their military intelligence people inside Luzira prison guarding Dr Besigye. He is a captive, and he’s not there like any prisoner who has committed a crime and is being held by a prison warder.”
Byanyima’s comments follow recent developments concerning her husband’s health. Dr Besigye, a prominent opposition leader and former presidential candidate, was recently rushed to a medical facility after his health reportedly deteriorated. Byanyima expressed concerns over the secrecy surrounding the medical transfer and the lack of communication from prison authorities to the family.
“Prison is just a front where Besigye is being imprisoned,” Byanyima alleged. “And courts are just the place where they convict him. Museveni controls the courts, and he wants him convicted so that he can continue holding him in the prison guarded by military personnel.”
Byanyima questioned the timing of her husband’s illness, wondering why he had fallen ill while in prison, and why he was rushed to a hospital without prior communication to his family. She expressed outrage at the authorities’ failure to inform them, saying she had only found out about the transfer through other means.
In addition, Byanyima dismissed claims made by President Museveni’s supporters that Dr Besigye had ever intended to harm the president. “If Dr Besigye wanted to harm Museveni, he would have done so when he was his personal doctor during the Bush War,” Byanyima said, referring to the time Dr Besigye served as Museveni’s personal physician during the early years of Uganda’s post-independence conflict.
She also described the allegations that Dr Besigye was plotting to kill Museveni as “fabricated lies” designed to tarnish her husband’s reputation.
The accusations have added fuel to the ongoing controversy surrounding Dr Besigye’s detention, with critics of the government accusing the authorities of politically motivated harassment of opposition figures. Dr Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, has been arrested multiple times and is known for his vocal opposition to Museveni’s government.
Dr Besigye’s supporters have called for his immediate release, citing concerns over his health and the conditions under which he is being held. As of now, the Ugandan government has not issued a formal response to Byanyima’s allegations.
The situation has raised concerns about the treatment of political prisoners in Uganda, with human rights groups calling for greater transparency and accountability regarding the conditions of detention.
