Kizza Besigye is in ICU after collapsing in court.

Since November 2024, the 70-year-old veteran politician has been detained by the country's police, while his lawyer Elias Lukwago was also taken to prison last month on charges related to treason, which both vehemently deny.

"He is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus," his wife Winnie Byanyima, who is also the head of the United Nations agency fighting against HIV and Aids (UNAids), wrote on X's social media account.

Kizza Besigye, who ran unsuccessfully for president in Uganda four times against President Yoweri Museveni, was arrested in Kenya in 2024 and immediately extradited to Uganda.

Kizza Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale, are not only accused of treason, but also of plotting to overthrow the current government, which they both deny.

The crime of treason is a serious crime in Uganda, and if Kizza Besigye is convicted by a court, he could face the death penalty.

Witnesses in court on Wednesday said that before Kizza Besigyecollapsed, he first told the judges, "Stop, stop!"

"Before he collapsed, he was saying he was injured," Winnie Byanyima wrote, adding that Kizza Besigye's sister, Olive Kobusingye, who is a doctor, was also in court but was not allowed to take care of her brother.

Kizza Besigye was immediately rushed to Mulago Hospital, the largest government hospital in Uganda, but he refused to be treated by a government doctor. 

"He will not allow any government official to touch him," Byanyima said. 

Winnie Byanyima demanded that Besigye be allowed to receive treatment from his personal physician at a private clinic rather than at a government health facility. 

The intensive care unit where Kizza Besigye is being treated is under heavy security by soldiers and heavily armed police. Sources from Uganda confirm that Olive Kobusingye, who is Kizza Besigye's sister and personal doctor, has now been allowed to see her brother. 

This is not the first time Kizza Besigye has been hospitalized after being arrested, as in February 2025, he was rushed to a private hospital after noticing that his health was deteriorating. This was after he went on a hunger strike to protest his arrest. Earlier this year, 2026, he was also hospitalized, although not for long.

Kizza Besigye, who served as President Yoweri Museveni's personal doctor, had a falling out with him since 1999, which led to the politician forming an opposition party in 2004 called the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). He left the party in February 2024 and formed another in August of that year, calling it the People's Front for Freedom (PFF).

In the past few years, Kizza Besigye has not been very visible in political activities, and did not even contest the 2021 Ugandan presidential elections.