Besigye returned to Luzira amid wife's protest

Opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye has been returned to Luzira prison after days of treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital, prompting protests from his family who fear he remains too weak to walk, speak or care for himself.

His wife Winnie Byanyima said Besigye was removed from Mulago after 7pm on Friday, August 7, despite what she described as medical advice that he should remain at the hospital for rehabilitation.

“After 7pm tonight, my partner was bundled up and taken back to Luzira Prison.

“When I left KB at 4.30pm, he still could not walk or talk. At lunch, I fed him soft food with a spoon because his arms and hands remain very weak.

“He cannot yet care for himself.”

Besigye had been receiving treatment at Mulago after collapsing during proceedings at the High Court in Kampala on July 31. His health has since become a major issue surrounding his continued detention and treason trial.

Byanyima said Besigye's family had been helping to feed and care for him at Mulago because he remained dependent on assistance.

“When they came for @kizzabesigye1 tonight, he was about to have his dinner. They did not even allow him to eat it,” she said.

“His family has been helping to feed and care for him at Mulago because he remains weak and dependent on assistance.

“Why the rush to return a seriously ill man to prison before he can walk, talk or feed himself?”

Byanyima also revealed that a senior prisons official had attended a meeting with Besigye's family, Mulago doctors and his personal doctor a day earlier.

In the meeting, she said, doctors explained the rehabilitation programme they had prescribed for Besigye, while the prisons official acknowledged that Luzira could not support him in his condition and recommended that he remain at Mulago while recovering.

“We believed medical judgment would prevail. We were wrong,” she said.

Besigye's transfer came hours after Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi visited him at Mulago and said the veteran opposition politician was recovering.

“I paid a visit to Dr. Kiiza Besigye today morning at Mulago Hospital, where he is hospitalised. He is steadily recuperating and I wished him quick recovery. I thank the team of Medical workers that are attending to him,” Baryomunsi said on Friday.

Byanyima later questioned the circumstances surrounding the transfer, saying the decision came after Baryomunsi's visit.

“Today, after Minister Chris Baryomunsi visited, everything changed. An order came to remove @kizzabesigye1 from Mulago and return him to Luzira, against the recommendation we had heard from the prisons official and while he remains unable to care for himself,” she said.

“Who gave this order, and why was medical judgment overridden?”

She also criticised Baryomunsi's visit, saying the minister had not been invited to Besigye's bedside.

“As before, Minister Baryomunsi was uninvited at @kizzabesigye1 bedside. He imposed himself on him again,” she said.

There was no immediate public explanation from Uganda Prisons on Saturday morning detailing why Besigye had been returned to Luzira or responding to Byanyima's account of the medical recommendation.

High Court judge Emmanuel Baguma earlier directed Uganda Prisons to provide court with a medical report on his condition as questions emerged over whether he was fit to continue with proceedings.