Uganda: Detained opposition figure ‘is unconscious, in intensive care’, his wife says

Kizza Besigye, the prominent detained Ugandan opposition leader, has lost consciousness and been rushed into intensive care after collapsing during a court appearance in Kampala on Wednesday, according to his wife.

His wife, Winnie Byanyima, who doubles as head of the United Nations agency UNAIDS, disclosed in an X post early Thursday that her 70-year-old husband had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

She described his condition as dire, stating that he is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus.

The opposition figure had been attending a court session where he faces treason charges when he collapsed and was subsequently evacuated by ambulance.

Efforts to reach government spokesperson Alan Kasujja for a response have so far proven unsuccessful.

Besigye’s ordeal in detention stretches back to November 2024, when he was picked up in Kenya alongside his aide, Obeid Lutale, and later returned to Uganda to answer treason charges.

Concerns over his well-being behind bars have persisted since then, deepening with this latest health scare.