Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi on February 12, 2026 led a National Unity Platform (NUP) delegation to Luzira Prison, where detained party supporters criticised recent dialogue efforts with President Yoweri Museveni and demanded a more transparent approach to securing their release.
Ssenyonyi was accompanied by NUP National Treasurer Benjamin Katana and Lord Mayor-elect Ronald Balimwezo.
The delegation spent nearly five hours at the maximum-security facility, meeting party members who are on remand.
According to Ssenyonyi, the visit revealed that several NUP supporters, including election agents, remain in custody without their lawyers being aware of their detention status.
While the delegation was able to meet a number of inmates, prison authorities blocked them from seeing veteran opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, saying he was unwell and unable to receive visitors.
The team later briefly interacted with his aide, Hajj Obeid Lutale, who reportedly corroborated the information about Besigye’s health condition.
Addressing journalists after the visit, Ssenyonyi conveyed what he described as a strong message from the detainees regarding recent engagements between some opposition figures and President Museveni.
“Prisoners are wondering why the dialogue brokers are never in court for solidarity or even to check on us in prison,” Ssenyonyi said.
“None of those who went for the purported dialogue has ever been to prison. Are they not opportunists? They are unhappy because those engaging Museveni have never been to court to see them or state they are innocent.”
He said the detainees described the negotiations as “deals” rather than genuine efforts to secure justice, arguing that their continued detention should not be used as leverage for political bargaining.
According to Ssenyonyi, the inmates insisted that any meaningful dialogue must be conducted openly, involve neutral guarantors and aim at a broader national consensus rather than benefit a select group through what they termed “backdoor” processes.
Despite their prolonged detention, he said, the prisoners remain resolute and are demanding a transparent legal process that recognises their innocence instead of what they see as a political trade-off.
