Africa-Press – Uganda. Winnie Byanyima, wife of detained opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, has accused security agencies of deliberately restricting her husband’s access to proper medical care, raising fears for his life as his health deteriorates.
In a statement, Ms Byanyima said prison authorities prevented timely communication about her husband’s condition and limited his treatment to an ill-equipped prison sick bay, despite his serious illness.“Dr Besigye is seriously ill and has been denied timely and adequate medical care,” she said, recounting how her husband’s condition sharply worsened this week and he had to be rushed to the clinic of his personal doctor late at night.
“The prison authorities did not inform me of his worsening condition. I learned of it through other means and rushed to the clinic myself during the night,” she said.Ms Byanyima described the heavy security presence during the clinic visit, including six prison officers and a plainclothes military intelligence officer whose identity she was unable to confirm.
“At the clinic, Dr Besigye was guarded by six prison officers and a plainclothes military intelligence officer, a woman who concealed her face with a large white shawl,” she said. “When he was discharged, Dr Besigye was marched to a basement car park and bundled into a prison pickup truck, squashed between two warders. When I approached the military officer to ask for her identity, she ran away. I managed to take a photograph of her as she fled.”
Byanyima said the restrictions went beyond physical control, alleging intimidation aimed at silencing her from speaking publicly about his condition.
“I have been kept in the dark about his condition, warned not to inform the public about his illness, and threatened that if I did so, he would be denied further access to his doctor’s clinic,” she said.
“I regard this as blackmail and as a deliberate attempt to deny him medical care and conceal his condition from public knowledge.”
She added that following her media interview and statements by Dr Besigye’s party, the Commissioner of Prisons denied him access to a fully equipped medical facility.
“The Commissioner of Prisons has now denied Dr Besigye access to a fully equipped medical facility, allowing only his personal doctor to see him at the prison sick bay—an ill-equipped facility where many prisoners have lost their lives,” she said.
Ms Byanyima said the restrictions are putting her husband’s life at grave risk. She detailed the harsh conditions of his detention, saying he has been held in solitary confinement, barred from basic physical activity, and confined to a tiny cell with little sunlight.
“I therefore demand the immediate release of Dr Kizza Besigye, so that his family and doctors can care for him properly,” she said.
“His continued detention, mistreatment, and denial of medical care place his life at grave risk, and those responsible will be held accountable.”
Byanyima’s claims come amid rising public concern over Dr Besigye’s health, with his political party describing his condition as critical and calling for urgent intervention.
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