AG Kiwanuka to update Parliament on Besigye's welfare amid 'starving' claims
The Attorney General, Kiwanuka Kiryowa is set to address Parliament regarding the welfare of Dr. Kizza Besigye, who is currently incarcerated at Luzira prison.
The revelation was made on Thursday by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, following complaints raised by Francis Mwijukye, the legislator for Buhweju County.
Keep Reading
On Thursday, Mwijukye raised concerns that Besigye's family and friends have been prevented from delivering food to Besigye at Luzira.
Mwijukye questioned the appropriateness of Parliament continuing its regular activities while reports of human rights abuses within Uganda's prison system persist in the media.
“The issue of Human Rights for prisoners has come here several times and this House, we are the ears and eyes of the public. And so, we can’t continue debating as usual as if we don’t know that the rights of Ugandans in prisons are being infringed upon," Mwijukye said.
The legislator noted that Dr. Kizza Besigye's situation had been a recurring topic in Parliament, with images circulating in the media showing him looking frail and unwell, and emphasised the need for the House to take action on this matter.
“I don’t know whether we can use our powers, we have our Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights to understand what is actually happening in Luzira Prisons in respect to Dr. Besigye and other prisoners,” he suggested.
In response to Mwijukye's concerns, the Deputy Speaker indicated that he had been informed the Attorney General would address Parliament on Tuesday regarding these issues.
“The issue of Dr. Kizza Besigye, and I think Atkins Katusabe (Bukonzo West) and I confirmed today, the Attorney General has received the Hansard and I talked to him and he confirmed that on Tuesday, he will be ready to come and respond to the issues as they were raised,” Tayebwa remarked.
On Friday, Kampala's Deputy Lord Mayor, Doreen Nyanjura, claimed that during her visit to Dr. Besigye, they attempted to bring him food items, but prison authorities prevented him from consuming them.
“Dr Kizza Besigye has been given two choices, to either eat prison food or starve. All the food items we carried for him were rejected, we were told that Posho, milk, millet flour, honey, cooking oil, rice, blue band etc are sold at the prison canteen.
Dr said he won't eat their canteen food, he doesn't trust it, he remarked and said probably he will starve to death and die before the date set by Muhoozi,” Nyanjura said in a post on X.
In response, the Uganda Prisons Service dismissed Nyanjura's claims as false and urged Dr. Kizza Besigye's associates to cease making allegations about restrictions on his treatment in prison.
“When somebody says something out of the blue that doesn’t have any idea, I find it outrageous. It is not true we can deny food to Dr.Kizza Besigye or any other prisoner.When you come to prison you don’t become an expert. We are the experts . Let us do our work because we are not doing it for the first time,” Prison Services spokesperson Frank Baine said.
Last year, Besigye and his associate Hajji Obeid Kamulegeya were arrested in Kenya where they had been attending the book launch of Martha Karua, and later presented before the General Court Martial in Kampala.
They were subsequently remanded to Luzira by the Court Martial on charges related to unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
