Indictment: Prosecution details Besigye’s ‘plot to assassinate Museveni with drone strike’

The State Prosecution has laid out sweeping allegations of treason and misprision of treason against Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, Hajj Obeid Lutale and Capt Denis Olaa, accusing them of masterminding a long-running plot to overthrow the government of Uganda by force of arms. 

The prosecution in a recently revealed 13 page indictment, alleges a sophisticated, multi-year conspiracy involving international meetings, paramilitary training, and a chilling plot to assassinate President Yoweri Museveni using drone technology.

According to the indictment, the alleged conspiracy spans more than a decade, from 2013 to November 2024, and stretches across several countries including Switzerland, Greece, Kenya and Uganda.

The prosecution contends that the accused persons, together with others still at large, held multiple clandestine meetings abroad, raised funds, recruited operatives and sought military hardware in furtherance of what it describes as an organised armed insurrection.

The state cited meetings allegedly held by Dr Besigye in Geneva, Switzerland, on 29 October 2023 and 24 January 2024. 

At these meetings, the State claims, Besigye discussed plans to overthrow the Ugandan government through armed means and sought external military assistance.

It is during these Geneva encounters that prosecutors allege Besigye requested support for training allies in covert intelligence, paramilitary tactics and surveillance, while also sharing sensitive information on Ugandan military installations deemed to be potential targets.

The State’s case heavily relies on the testimony of Andrew Wilson, a private security contractor who says he was approached in 2021 by Joel Wakayima, a Ugandan based in Switzerland, to provide weapons and training for a plot to topple the government. 

Wilson claims he reported the approach to Ugandan authorities, led by a senior UPDF officer serving in AMISOM in Somalia, who in turn linked him to CMI.

He says he was subsequently asked to act as an undercover operative, engaging the alleged conspirators under the supervision of military intelligence.

Recordings of Zoom calls and meetings, including those involving opposition figures, are cited by prosecutors as evidence of discussions on intelligence gathering, covert communications and violent action against the State.

One of the most explosive allegations is that during a January 2024 meeting in Geneva, Besigye and Wakayima asked Wilson to assist in assassinating President Yoweri Museveni using a drone strike. 

Prosecutors allege that Besigye undertook to provide details of the President’s movements and vulnerabilities, while inducements such as access to Uganda’s banking sector and airfields were discussed as part of the arrangement.

“Besigye undertook to provide Andrew Wilson with the president's movement routine and vulnerable points to facilitate his assassination.”

“In exchange for Andrew Wilson's assistant, Besigye and Wakayima undertook to grant a Kurdish government company access to Uganda's banking sector to launder money; permission to use Ugandan airfields, use of Uganda as a safe haven to traffic fugitives once the plot to overturn the government was successful”

The indictment further claims that Besigye sought drones, grenades—codenamed “pineapples”—and even surface-to-air missiles to target military installations, including the Nakasongola Air Base.

Between June and July 2024, the prosecution alleges that Besigye provided USD 5,000 to facilitate the travel of 36 recruits from Uganda to Kisumu, Kenya, for training in intelligence and drone operations. 

Before the training could commence, the group was arrested by Kenyan authorities and later deported to Uganda, where they were remanded alongside recovered exhibits.

Besigye is said to have gone into hiding upon learning of the arrests.

The state asserts that the conspiracy continued despite the Kisumu setback. 

In September 2024, Besigye and Wilson allegedly met in Athens, Greece, to discuss attacking military installations. 

The final act of this alleged "grand plan" took place on 16th November 2024 at a Riverside Apartment in Nairobi. 

Here, the prosecution claims Besigye briefed the group on a plan to initiate civil disobedience strikes, anchored by the assassination of the President in March 2025.

It was during this meeting that Besigye and Lutale were arrested at the Riverside Apartments in Nairobi and handed over to Ugandan security agencies. 

They were later charged before the General Court Martial under the UPDF Act.

However, the main trial is yet to begin. Besigye and his legal team have filed several applications, including for bail and the recusal of Justice Emmanuel Baguma, whom they accuse of bias.