By Sadique Bamwita
KAMPALA
High Court Criminal Division in Kampala presided over by Justice Dr. Emmanuel Baguma on February 24, 2026, ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to adduce concrete evidence in a treason case against opposition leader, Dr. Col. Kizza Besigye and his co-accused, including outgoing Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.
During the hearing session, there was bitter exchange of words between defence lawyers and state prosecutor on what the defence Lawyers described as delayed and incomplete disclosure.
To calm down the verbal war, Justice Baguma told court:
“I have heard that the prosecution has done partial disclosure, which has become a challenge in proceeding with this matter. I direct the prosecution to handle full disclosure by March 3. Court will then resume on the 12th of the same month,” Justice Baguma announced.
However, the hearing that was initially intended to finalize the trial timetable, quickly turned into a confrontation over whether the State had complied with previous court orders.
Led by Martha Karua, the defence accused the prosecution of ignoring timelines and attempting to proceed under unfair conditions. Karua warned that partial disclosure and her client’s health concerns made it impossible to continue.
“There is no way we can proceed with this matter when disclosure is incomplete,” Karua declared.
Lukwago also castigated the State for failing to meet deadlines, noting that the trial, initially scheduled to resume on January 21, 2026, could not proceed with insufficient evidence. He pointed out that transcripts provided without accompanying video recordings or electronic storage devices fell short of legal requirements.
“The transcription of evidence should be accompanied by video recordings. That is not the case at the moment,” Counsel Lukwago expressed grave concern.
Defence lawyer Eron Kiiza added that the DPP team, led by Thomas Jatiko, had failed to adequately prepare the case, and asked them to complete disclosure before the hearing could proceed.
In response, prosecution Lawyer Thomas Jatiko informed court that the prosecution already has required evidence to support the trial.
