Govt says transferred Besigye, criminal case files to civil courts

By Mary Karugaba 

KAMPALA - All civilian and military criminal case files pending trial before the General Court Martial (GCM) have been transferred to civil courts, justice minister Nobert Mao has said.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter on February 19, 2025, Mao said the GCM has transferred the relevant case files to the civil courts as directed by the Supreme Court.

“I can confirm that what happened in Parliament yesterday shows that we achieve more when we attack the problem rather than each other,” he tweeted.

This follows a heated debate in Parliament on Tuesday where Opposition MPs threatened to boy court the House in protest and Speaker Anita Among’s demand for an explanation from Mao as to why Dr Kiiza Besigye and other suspects' files have not been brought to court as ruled by the Supreme Court.

The continued detention and health condition of Besigye was a centre of debate during the plenary.

Besigye and his long-time friend, Hajji Obeid Lutale, were arrested and faced the General Court Martial over alleged illegal possession of firearms.

Questions raised

In her communication to the House, Among expressed concern about Besigye’s continued detention at Luzira Maximum Prison, despite a Supreme Court ruling on 31 January 2025 that called for a fair trial before a competent court of law.

"As a House of Representatives, we are a voice of the voiceless. We are elected to speak for those people out there who cannot be in this House. If we cannot do that, then we are not representing our people. Injustice to anyone is injustice to everybody. Today it is happening to Dr Besigye, tomorrow it will happen to any one of us," she said.

Speaker Among raised questions regarding the Government’s adherence to the ruling, querying the legal basis for his prolonged detention and requesting clarity on how long it would take for all civilian cases to be transferred to civilian courts.

She also urged the Government to address Besigye’s deteriorating health.

Among also warned of the dangerous precedent set by continuing to detain an unwell individual under harsh conditions stating, ’there is a need to explore other appropriate modalities of confinement, if necessary, than keeping the ailing suspect in unfavourable conditions that may potentially be fatal’.