By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
Winnie Byanyima, wife to incarcerated Dr. Kiiza Besigye has released a statement giving the latest update on the health condition of her husband.
In the statement dated 25th January, 2026, Byanyima says she paid Dr. Kiiza Besigye a visit on Friday at Luzira Prisons where he is being held on remand over treason charges.
FULL STATEMEN VERBATIM
Statement about Dr Kizza Besigye: When I visited Dr Kizza Besigye on Friday last week, 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.
Despite this slight improvement, KB remains extremely weak. He was unable to walk from his cell to the visitors’ reception. I met him in a small office next to his cell. I had to hold back tears as I watched him slowly make his way back afterwards, clinging to the walls to avoid falling, returning to an oven-hot, dark, bedbug-infested cell.
In eight hours, he had eaten only a small piece of yam and half an avocado.
This is not care. This is punishment.
Dr Kizza Besigye is being deliberately denied the medical care he trusts and requires. He should not be held in squalid, unhealthy conditions that endanger his recovery and his life. He should be under the care of his family and his personal doctor – not abandoned to neglect behind prison walls.
The law is clear. Dr Kizza Besigye is innocent until proven guilty. Why, then, is he being treated with such cruelty and inhumanity? Denied bail four times?
Every day that he remains ill, every day that he is forced to endure pain, weakness, and the humiliation of these appalling prison conditions, is the responsibility of his captors. President Museveni and his son, the army commander, are directly accountable for his suffering.
✔️ We demand his immediate release on bail.
✔️ We demand access to proper medical care now.
✔️ We demand an end to the deliberate cruelty being inflicted on him.
I thank @kizzabesigye1’s legal team and so many people who have and continue to support him morally and materially. You give him strength and hope.
Fellow Ugandans, medical professionals, religious leaders, and the international community — do not look away. Silence will make you complicit.
Dr Kizza Besigye’s life matters. His rights matter. And those responsible for his suffering will be held to account.
Winnie Byanyima
Spouse of Dr Kizza Besigye
25 January 2026
