Weight of the country lies on the shoulders of Dr Kizza Besigye

We might never see a revolutionary of his calibre in the modern times – a civilian revolutionary ready to exploit all civil channels for reform in his country despite a history in the military.

We are talking Nelson Mandela levels. Or Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. Civil, resolute, ceaseless. Even when the entire country is gripped in fear, even when his life is on the line, the man soldiers on, unshaken.

It is difficult to say, but unlike many others, it is arguable that Dr Kizza Besigye successfully captured his fear of death: What type of bravery and determination is this? Before fainting in Justice Emmanuel Baguma’s court (what a court, that is!), Dr Besigye had held a one-man protest the whole time: Still handcuffed, he had kept shouting to interrupt the proceedings imposed on him as his lawyers of choice have been denied the chance to do their work.

When his handcuffs were removed, he turned to banging tables, demanding respect for his constitutional rights. Then slowly, without stopping, lost his grip and fell to the ground.

To paraphrase, Mark Anthony on Julius Caesar: What a fall there was fellow countrymen, and you and I all fell on the ground. Had it not been for a thoroughly emasculated public, this would have been a defining moment in Uganda’s judicial history.

Dr Besigye must he wondering how the entire country has been so successfully softened and weakened about our civil rights and responsibilities especially the right to protest and demonstrate injustice as enshrined in Article 29 of the 1995 Constitution.

We all lowered our heads, carried on eking an existence and talking in whispers. We had all witnessed something despicable, and simply walked away in silence. With all the abductions, kidnaps, threats to individuals, media shutdowns, impoverishment, and forced exile, fear clouds the entire country.

“Exile” has become a keyword in conversations. Somone said to me that us, regular people, cannot imagine the absolute levels of fear and trepidation inside the NRM camp. Many supposedly NRM-diehards – politicians and senior civil servants – have already secured residence and citizenship for entire families abroad.

Many see Uganda, their birthplace, as a volatile workstation, which they will soon escape and enjoy the beautiful lives abroad. What country are we building?

THE IRONIES OF FAKE INTELLIGENCE

You could tell the weight of the entire country rested on the shoulders this man, Dr. Besigye. This is not necessarily a search for constitutionalism or democracy. Rather a search for common sense – for our collective humanity as senior advocate Daudi Mpanga has constantly reminded us.

What authority, what supreme leadership entertains this sort of tragic drama where a supposed court of justice insists on prosecuting a man whose health is collapsing before their eyes?

One of the biggest ironies of this Besigye trial is that the department responsible for collecting intelligence – including the intelligence against which Dr Kizza Besigye and his associate Obeid Lutale are being prosecuted – are currently in jail for faking intelligence in their department.

Most notable is the former boss of the Chief of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Birungi who was arrested in August 2025. Alongside other officers, he remains in jail on accusations that they “fabricated intelligence reports [that] were used to obtain operational funds.”

It is reported that this “false intelligence is also linked to security operations in which civilians were shot and wrongly presented as suspected suicide bombers … at Kalerwe Market and near the Catholic Shrine in Munyonyo during Martyrs’ Day celebrations.”

How credible then is the rest of the intelligence that CMI gathered? There is more irony: “Birungi is among the people who were listed as State Witnesses in the case against Col Dr Kizza Besigye, Obeid Lutale and Captain Denis Oola who are accused of treason, plotting to overthrow the legitimate government. Now Birungi is equally facing similar charges that attract death once found guilty,” The Independent reported.

There is more: in a story titled, “State House and Security agencies under Siege,” The Independent tells us that about the same time there was a plan to kill President Yoweri Museveni, there was also a plan to kill President William Ruto.

In both cases, intelligence originated from Uganda. In Kenya, the intelligence community dismissed the Ugandan intelligence officer called Amon as fake.

Although “According to sources close to State House, Amon’s lies were [more] believable.” On the second try, Amon was even more dramatic and “told Ruto that Museveni was the one planning to kill the Kenyan president.”

Remember, Museveni had personally sent Amon to President Ruto. We are told Amon is currently in Luzira. But in Uganda, the state believed its intelligence and is still prosecuting the alleged perpetrators. They have now added their lawyer, Erias Lukwago.

Where is the common sense in all of this drama? Amidst all this circus, I cannot help but think about Dr Besigye’s main protagonist, Justice Baguma. He might be talking tough, but psychoanalytically, Justice Baguma is as scared as the entire country.

There is nothing nobler than a justice recusing oneself from a matter once the respondent makes the application. Confidence comes with empathy and caution. Had Justice Baguma been confident enough, he would be more empathetic to Dr Besigye’s health, and would have had a sense of foreboding about the credibility of the evidence before him, especially that the “intelligence officers” who generated it are battling cases of faking intelligence reports.

yusufkajura@gmail.com

The author is a political theorist based at Makerere University.

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