MEPs are deeply concerned about the suspension of civil society groups as well as the significant threats and intimidation directed at the opposition including National Unity Platform (NUP) leader and presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) and long-standing opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye ' the resolution noted...

Opposition figure Kizza Besigye a four-time challenger of Museveni remains in detention on treason charges after he and long-time associate Hajj Obeid Lutale were abducted in Kenya and brought back to Uganda by security operatives (AC Vol 66 No 9 Karua takes on the autocrats & Dispatches 5/2/25 Museveni defies Supreme Court over Besigye charges)...

At the elite level Martha Karua Kenya's former Justice Minister and leader of the People's Liberation Party set up the Pan-African Progressive Leaders Solidarity Network following the arrests of Lissu and Kizza Besigye – respectively the presidential candidate for Tanzania's Chadema party and the leader of Uganda's Forum for Democratic Change (AC Vol 66 No 9 Karua takes on the autocrats)...

Kizza Besigye who was the main challenger against Museveni during the 2001 2006 2011 and 2016 elections remains in prison after being abducted in Kenya in 2024 and brought back to Uganda for an ongoing treason trial (Dispatches 17/12/24 Keeping Martha Karua out of court & 14/1/25 Activists' kidnapping highlights police campaign of repression)...

Kizza Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change which until the emergence of NUP ahead of the 2021 elections was Uganda's leading opposition party also lost several seats following similar wrangling that split the party and led to the creation of the People's Front for Freedom...

They cite the kidnapping of Kizza Besigye from a Nairobi apartment last December – reportedly with the collusion of Kenyan authorities – and the near silence of Kenyan and Ugandan ministers over the arrest and in some cases torture of pro-democracy activists in Uganda and Tanzania as evidence (Dispatches 17/12/24 Keeping Martha Karua out of court)...

Africa Confidential understands that the Ugandan leadership is also unhappy with the way military intelligence under Birungi handled investigations into detained opposition leader Kizza Besigye...

Muhoozi's power charge A four-time challenger to President Yoweri Museveni Kizza Besigye was abducted in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November last year and taken back to Uganda to face a military trial only for the Supreme Court to rule that trying civilians in military courts was unconstitutional...

Ignoring a growing international chorus for the release of his perennial rival Kizza Besigye – who once again faces treason charges allegedly for plotting the violent overthrow of the government – Museveni's apology seems to have been triggered by his son's social media vigilantism...

She also joined the legal team for Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and his ally Hajji Obeid Lutaale who have been jailed without bail as they face treason and weapons charges...

In Uganda Kizza Besigye leader of the Forum for Democratic Change remains in jail after the High Court in Kampala denied bail for him and his aide Hajj Obeid Lutale...

The initial stages of the trial of fellow opposition leader Kizza Besigye who was abducted by Ugandan security forces in Nairobi and arraigned on weapons possession charges in December began on 7 January...