Dr Kiiza Besigye in Makindye military tribunal facing treason charges
July 17 — Prominent Ugandan opposition leader, Col (Rtd) Dr. Kiiza Besigye and political activist Hajj Obeid Lutale have filed a constitutional petition in the High Court of Kenya, accusing Kenyan authorities of colluding with Ugandan security forces to abduct and unlawfully extradite them from Nairobi to Uganda in November 2024.
The explosive case, filed under Kenya’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division, is likely to test the strength of Kenya’s constitutional safeguards and regional obligations under the East African Community protocols.
Besigye’s legal team is led by Nairobi based James Njeri & Company Advocates.
The petition accuses several Kenyan government officials, including the Cabinet Secretaries for Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Interior, as well as the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Immigration, of violating Kenya’s Constitution, territorial integrity, and international law by facilitating a cross-border operation that bypassed due extradition process.
According to court documents, Besigye and Lutale allege that they were in Nairobi to attend a book launch at the invitation of Kenyan politician Martha Karua when they were seized by armed men claiming to be Kenyan police.
They say they were bundled into vehicles, driven to the Malaba border in the dead of night, and handed over to Ugandan authorities—all without being informed of any charges or being presented before a court in Kenya.
“This was not an arrest; it was an abduction conducted in the full knowledge of Kenyan authorities and in violation of the Extradition (Commonwealth Countries) Act,” the petitioners state.
Besigye, a four-time presidential contender and a critic of President Museveni’s government, asserts that he and Lutale were later detained incommunicado at Makindye Military Barracks in Kampala.
There, they were denied access to lawyers and medical care and charged before a military tribunal with illegal possession of firearms allegedly found in Kenya.
Besigye, who has long advocated for democratic reform in Uganda, said in his affidavit that the Kenyan authorities did not follow proper procedure under Kenya’s extradition law, including seeking a magistrate’s warrant and obtaining clearance from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Instead, he argues, the Kenyan government either actively participated in or turned a blind eye to the illegal operation.
The petition references public statements by Ugandan officials—including Col. Rafael Mugisha, Brig. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, and ICT Minister Chris Baryomunsi—who claimed the operation was a coordinated effort between Kenyan and Ugandan security forces.
If I committed a crime on Kenyan soil, then I should have been charged in Kenya. But I was neither arrested nor charged in accordance with Kenyan law,” Besigye said.
The petition invokes more than two dozen provisions of the Kenyan Constitution, including those protecting due process, personal liberty, freedom of movement, and the rule of law. It also references Articles 238, 239, and 241 on national security organs and territorial integrity.
The petitioners also seek punitive, exemplary, and general damages and call on the court to assert Kenya’s sovereignty and legal obligations.
Besigye’s legal team, argues that such an “unlawful, opaque, and politically motivated” operation threatens Kenya’s own rule of law and the rights of foreign nationals.
No date has yet been set for the hearing.
