Kizza Besigye hospitalised after Uganda court collapse

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was taken to hospital in Kampala on Wednesday after collapsing in court, his wife said.

Besigye, 70, collapsed after rejecting state-appointed lawyers. An AFP reporter in court saw him visibly angered after his own lawyers were barred from representing him.

His wife, Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, said on X that Besigye had been taken to hospital. She said his personal doctor was concerned about his health.

Byanyima said Besigye had insisted that he not be treated at a government hospital because he did not trust any institution controlled by President Yoweri Museveni or his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the army chief widely seen as Museveni’s designated successor.

It is the third time Besigye has been hospitalised since his detention. He was admitted briefly in February 2025 after a hunger strike and again earlier this year.

Besigye was once Museveni’s personal doctor before becoming one of his most prominent political opponents. Museveni has ruled Uganda for more than four decades.

Besigye was abducted in neighbouring Kenya in November 2024 and later resurfaced in Uganda, where he was charged with treason over an alleged plot against Museveni. The case was first heard by a military court before Uganda’s highest court ruled that he should be tried in civilian court.

Byanyima has repeatedly criticised Besigye’s detention conditions as inhumane and alleged a plot to kill him. Uganda has imposed a widening crackdown on opposition figures, lawyers and independent media in recent months.