Besigye Remanded Following Army Court Charges on Firearms Possession

The Uganda peoples’ Front for Freedom leader Rt. Col Dr. Kiiza Besigye has been remanded  to Luzira prison on charges relating to security and unlawful possession of firearms and ammutions .

Besigye is charged together with a one  Hajji Obed Lutale with whom he was  arrested with  on the 16th/ November in Nairobi Kenya and brought back  to Uganda .

On Wednesday at about 1pm, the 2 were driven to the court martial amidst tight security where their party members were waiting.

The duo has  arraigned before a seven member court chaired by  Brig. Gen  Freeman Mugabe who ruled that the pair is properly charged before the court martial by virtue of section 117.

Besigye a resident of Nangabo sub-county in  Kasangati and Hajji Lutale a resident of Mutundwe  had challenged their trial before the millitary court on grounds that they are not serving army officers.

After a 15 minutes break , the two were brought back to the Dock to listen and plead to the charges.

The Army prosecutors lead by Reaphel Mugisha  state that between October  2023 and November 2024 in the  cities of Athens in  Greece , Geneva in Switzerland and Nairobi in Kenya , Besigye and Hajji  Obed Lutale held meetings to fundraise and mobilise resources against the security of Uganda .

The two have also faced three other counts of unlawful possession of two pistols and eight rounds of ammuntions which were allegedly found on them on  arrest  at Riverside apartments in Kenya on 16th / November .

According to prosecution the firearms and the ammutions are a monopoly of the armed forces .

Besigye and Lutale have each denied the 4 counts that their lawyer Elias Lukwago calls defective as the court martial’s jurisdiction does not extent to the millitary  laws of Kenya.

Lukwago has stated that the 2 suspects entered Kenya legally and were cleared by immigration officers but there is no record that they either  broke any laws of Kenya or over stayed their visa to warrant an extradition or a deportation .

Lukwago adds that as of now , the law  presumes the  suspects are still in Nairobi and have not yet been cleared  back to Uganda.  He therefore asked Brig. Mugabe to dimiss the charges and set the two Men free .

The two have now  been remanded  to Luzira prison till 2nd / December for mention of the case.