Uganda Today: Kyagulanyi Blasts Judiciary Over Continued Detention of Dr. Kizza Besigye and Hajj Obeid Lutale
By Uganda Today Reporter
www.ugandatoday.co.ug
The President of the National Unity Platform (NUP), Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has sharply criticized the Ugandan judiciary following the High Court’s decision to deny bail to opposition icon Dr. Kizza Besigye and his co-accused, Hajj Obeid Lutale, despite their prolonged detention spanning over 260 days without trial.
In a statement shared on Friday, Kyagulanyi expressed deep disappointment, calling out the court for what he termed as a dangerous trend of “legal formalism being used to defeat justice.” He warned that such judicial practices erode public trust in the judiciary and sow seeds of chaos in the nation.
“Very disappointed that the High Court has yet again refused to grant bail to Dr. Kizza Besigye and Hajj Obeid Lutale after spending more than 260 days in detention without trial,” Kyagulanyi wrote.
The opposition leader was particularly disturbed by the presiding judge’s interpretation of the detention timeline. The judge reportedly based his decision on the period beginning in February 2025—when the two were formally charged before a civilian court—completely ignoring the months they had already spent in military detention under what Kyagulanyi referred to as “kangaroo military courts.”
“More troubling is how the judge claimed that, according to him, Dr. Besigye and his colleague have only been in detention since February, when they were charged before the civil courts,” Kyagulanyi said. “He did not factor in all the time they spent in detention on the orders of the kangaroo military court!”
These remarks have intensified growing public concern over the apparent fusion between military and civilian judicial processes, particularly in cases involving political figures. Many Ugandans are left questioning the distinction—if any—between the military and civilian courts, especially when both appear to perpetuate indefinite detention without trial.
Kyagulanyi, in reference to his recent remarks to the Uganda Law Society, emphasized the long-standing critique that Uganda’s judiciary often hides behind technicalities to legitimize political persecution.
“As I recently said in my address to the Law Society, when judges use legal formalism in order to defeat justice, the result is chaos,” he reiterated.
The continued detention of Dr. Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate and a symbol of Uganda’s democratic resistance, alongside veteran political activist Hajj Lutale, has become a rallying cry for political rights activists, with the hashtags #FreeKizzaBesigye and #FreeAllPoliticalPrisonersInUganda gaining renewed momentum across social media platforms.
Meanwhile, legal scholars, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations continue to call on the judiciary to uphold the spirit of justice over rigid proceduralism. They argue that prolonged pretrial detention not only violates constitutional protections but also undermines Uganda’s commitment to fair trial guarantees under international law.
As the nation inches closer to the 2026 general elections, the political temperature continues to rise—and so too does scrutiny of state institutions once seen as arbiters of fairness and accountability.
For more updates on this developing story and other political analyses, follow www.ugandatoday.co.ug.
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