4/8/2026
When the executive director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, walked into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Mulago National Referral Hospital on Monday, she says she found a man she barely recognized.
Dr Kizza Besigye, Uganda’s four-time presidential candidate and one of the country’s longest-serving opposition figures, lay unconscious in a hospital bed under heavy security.
For Byanyima, the visit marked the culmination of months of mounting anxiety over her husband’s health while in state custody.
“This is not the man I left,” she later said, struggling to hold back tears after seeing him.
Besigye’s admission to the ICU followed his dramatic collapse in the High court on July 29, 2026, during proceedings in his treason trial.
The 70-year-old furiously objected to being represented by lawyers assigned by the court after members of his preferred legal team were unavailable. He became increasingly distressed as he protested what he described as an unlawful trial
Moments before collapsing, Besigye cried out that he was being hurt before losing consciousness. He was rushed to Mbuya Military Hospital before being transferred under tight security to Mulago National Referral Hospital, where he was admitted to the ICU.
The gravity of his condition first became public through a statement issued by Byanyima, who said Besigye was unconscious, unable to speak and unresponsive even to painful stimuli. She also questioned his treatment, saying the family wanted him transferred to a medical facility where doctors they trusted could oversee his care.
The family’s efforts to gain access to Besigye also drew attention. According to Byanyima, his sister, trauma surgeon Dr Olive Kobusingye, was initially denied access before eventually being allowed into the ICU, which remained under heavy security.
For Byanyima, the issue extends beyond her husband’s medical condition. She argued that every Ugandan deserves timely medical care and the protection of constitutional rights, regardless of political affiliation, warning that if Besigye’s rights could be disregarded, those of ordinary citizens were equally at risk.
Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, echoed those concerns, saying Besigye and his co-accused were seeking nothing more than a fair hearing before an impartial court.
Besigye has been in custody since November 2024 after he and his co-accused, Hajj Obeid Lutale, were arrested in Nairobi and returned to Uganda to face treason charges.
