Embattled Dr. Kizza Besigye is beginning to respond slowly and painfully to treatment, his wife Winnie Byanyima has revealed.
Byanyima, who visited her husband last Friday, described a frail Besigye struggling with basic movements and living under harsh conditions that she said are undermining his recovery.
“When I visited Dr. Kizza Besigye… he was beginning to respond, slowly and painfully, to treatment. We are very grateful to his personal doctor, who has been braving traffic and repeatedly driving to Luzira Maximum Security Prison to check on him, because prison officials have refused to take him to the private clinic where full and proper medical care can be provided,” she said.
She said Besigye was so weak he could not walk from his cell to the visitors’ reception and had to cling to walls to avoid falling. He was returned to what she described as an oven hot, dark, bedbug infested cell after the visit. In eight hours, he had eaten only a small piece of yam and half an avocado, a sign of deteriorating strength, she said.
“This is not care. This is punishment,” Byanyima said in her statement, adding that Besigye is being deliberately denied the medical care he trusts and requires.
Byanyima’s comments illustrate rising frustration among Besigye’s supporters and family over what they call denial of adequate health care and repeated refusals to allow him treatment at a private clinic where more comprehensive care could be provided. She argued that his basic rights, including access to timely medical attention, are being violated and demanded his immediate release on bail and unrestricted access to proper medical care.
The Uganda Prisons Service has disputed claims that Besigye’s condition is critical, urging Byanyima to stop politicizing the matter. Prison officials said Besigye’s recent health concerns were being managed and that his overall condition was not as serious as some reports suggested.
Earlier reports indicated that Besigye was transferred from Luzira to a medical facility in Bugolobi Village Mall under heavy security as his health deteriorated. That transfer raised concern among supporters and rights activists, who said it highlighted serious risks to his well-being.
Byanyima emphasized that under Ugandan law, Besigye is innocent until proven guilty, questioning why he has been denied bail multiple times even as his health falters. She said denying him access to family and proper health care amounts to cruelty and inhuman treatment that endangers his life.
