KMPDU, LSK, Amnesty to lead protest in Nairobi demanding Besigye's release

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Amnesty International and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) are among organisations set to stage a protest march next week demanding the release of detained Ugandan politician Dr. Kizza Besigye.

Other organisations involved include; Centre for Strategic Litigation (CSL), Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), East Africa Law Society, Vocal Africa, and Change Tanzania Movement.

The march was initially set for Friday, February 21, but has since been pushed to Monday, February 24, 2025.

It will begin at 10am from the Aga Khan Walk, through Harambee Avenue and end up at the National Assembly where the organisations will present a petition to the House Committee on Defense, Intelligence & Foreign Relations.

They will, from 2pm, then march to the Uganda High Commission on Riverside Drive where they will present another petition.

“We changed the date to accord the Uganda court the opportunity to hear and act on the collective voice of Ugandans, East Africans, the Commonwealth and the international community for a fair legal trial, the immediate release of Ugandan political prisoners in Uganda and justice and respect for human rights to prevail in Uganda,” the organisations said in a joint statement.

“We call on all concerned with the current situation of Dr Kizza Besigye, Obeid Lutale, Advocate Erron Kizza and the incarceration of Ugandans on the basis of their political conscience to join us in a peaceful procession…”

Besigye’s lawyers say he was "kidnapped" in Kenya's capital Nairobi with his aide Obed Lutale in November and returned to Uganda, where they were initially charged with offences including illegal weapons possession and treachery in a military court.

Besigye was on Friday however arraigned before the magistrate’s court where he was charged with treason and concealment of treason, but the court declined to allow him to enter a plea because the offences can only be tried by a higher court.

The court further rejected his lawyer's pleas that he be transferred to hospital to help him recover from ill health stemming from a hunger strike.

The 68-year-old opponent and critic of longtime Uganda President Yoweri Museveni appeared in the court in Kampala looking frail and in a wheelchair.

He was briefly hospitalised at the weekend and a government minister this week said his health condition was alarming.