Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, 70, is in intensive care at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, his wife Winnie Byanyima and medical sources confirmed on Thursday, August 4th, 2026. Besigye is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to pain stimuli, according to a hospital spokeswoman, Gladys Baligonzaki Kajura, who confirmed his admission to AFP.

Besigye has been in custody facing treason charges related to an alleged plot against veteran President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986. He was abducted in Kenya in 2024, later appearing in Uganda where he was initially tried by a military tribunal before the case was transferred to a civilian court. Besigye rejected state-appointed lawyers during a court appearance on Wednesday, expressing anger at being denied his own legal representatives before collapsing.

His wife, Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, wrote on X that Besigye had been admitted to the ICU. A medical source, speaking anonymously, said Besigye was taken to hospital Wednesday evening.

Since Museveni, 81, was re-elected for a seventh term in January 2026, repression against perceived government opponents has intensified. A statement from Turk's office said, "Those who dare to speak out are silenced." It reported that at least 50 opposition leaders and supporters, five human rights defenders, and five journalists have faced human rights violations including enforced disappearance, torture, and ill-treatment.

Byanyima expressed alarm at the increasing targeting of dissent and the deepening restrictions on fundamental freedoms in Uganda.

Sources