UgandaToday: Maggie Kigozi Remembers Besigye’s Role in NRA Struggle, Hails Him as a “Freedom Fighter”
Former Uganda Investment Authority Executive Director Dr Maggie Kigozi has offered a deeply personal tribute to detained opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, recalling his contribution to the National Resistance Army (NRA) struggle and describing him as a freedom fighter and hero.
Kigozi’s remarks came after Besigye was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital following his collapse during a court session in Kampala on July 29, 2026. His wife, Winnie Byanyima, said he was unconscious and unresponsive after the incident. (Reuters)
“Get well soon, our hero”
Besigye’s 2001 petition still anchors reform arguments. Dr Kizza Besigye, once a medical doctor and NRA combatant, later became one of President Yoweri Museveni’s most formidable political opponents.
In a message posted on X on July 30, Kigozi wished Besigye a speedy recovery while reflecting on his contribution during the NRA bush war.
“Get well soon the freedom fighter Dr Hon Kizza Besigye,” Kigozi wrote, adding that Besigye had helped care for sick NRA fighters as well as surrounding communities.
Her message went beyond a routine get-well wish, revealing a personal connection to the history of Uganda’s liberation struggle.
Kigozi recalled that members of what she described as the “outside wing” of the NRA were involved in secretly transporting medicines from Nairobi to support fighters inside Uganda.
She memorably recounted an occasion when medicines were concealed in a clean petrol tanker—an anecdote that offers a glimpse into the clandestine networks that supported the guerrilla movement.
A doctor among the fighters
Besigye’s background makes Kigozi’s tribute particularly significant.
Before becoming one of President Yoweri Museveni’s most prominent political challengers, Besigye was a medical doctor and served as Museveni’s personal physician and military assistant during the NRA struggle. The two later fell out politically, with Besigye becoming a fierce critic of Museveni’s government. (AP News)
Kigozi’s own recollections of the period provide additional insight into the support networks surrounding the NRA.
In an earlier interview, she recalled that her late husband, Engineer Dan Kigozi, worked with members of the NRA’s external wing while the family was living in Nairobi. She said their home was visited by several NRA fighters and that her husband provided financial and medical assistance to the struggle. (TeePublic)
New Vision has similarly reported that Dan Kigozi became a contact person for key NRA figures and supported the rebel movement during its struggle against the government of Milton Obote. (New Vision)
From liberation comrades to political adversaries
The relationship between Besigye and Museveni has since become one of the most dramatic political reversals in Uganda’s modern history.
The two were once comrades in the NRA struggle that brought Museveni to power in 1986. Besigye later emerged as one of the president’s strongest political opponents, contesting against him in several presidential elections.
His current legal troubles have further intensified attention around his political journey. Besigye has been in custody since November 2024 after being arrested in Kenya alongside his aide Obeid Lutale and subsequently returned to Uganda. They were later charged with treason, allegations they deny. (Reuters)
Kigozi’s unusual perspective
Kigozi’s tribute is particularly striking because she has occupied a distinctive place in Uganda’s public life.
A medical doctor by profession, she served as Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority from 1999 to 2011 and became one of Uganda’s most prominent voices in investment promotion. Makerere University describes her as having served for 11 years in the position, where she worked on improving Uganda’s investment climate and promoting investment. (Makerere University Endowment)
She has also previously spoken publicly about the evolution of the NRA and UPDF. In 2018, Kigozi questioned what had happened to what she regarded as the professionalism and discipline of the old NRA, expressing concern about reports of torture and abuse involving security forces. (ChimpReports)
Her latest message therefore carries a historical dimension: a prominent figure associated with Uganda’s business and public life remembering Besigye not simply as an opposition politician, but as a man she says played a role in the country’s liberation struggle.
Besigye’s health sparks concern
Besigye’s collapse in court has triggered widespread concern among his family, political supporters and rights campaigners.
According to reports, he collapsed while protesting proceedings in his treason case. His wife said he was unconscious and unable to respond after being taken to Mulago Hospital. (Reuters)
By August 1, reports indicated that he remained in critical condition in the ICU at Mulago National Referral Hospital. (Monitor)
For Kigozi, however, the immediate concern appears to transcend today’s political divisions.
Her message reaches back nearly four decades to a period when the men and women who later occupied dramatically different positions in Uganda’s political landscape were bound together by a common struggle.
And in remembering the medicines hidden in a petrol tanker, Kigozi has inadvertently opened a window into a less frequently told chapter of Uganda’s liberation history—one in which doctors, families, businessmen and ordinary supporters formed networks that sustained fighters behind enemy lines.
