Ugandan opposition leader Besigye released on bail

By

Gloria Nakiyimba

After spending two months in jail, Uganda’s opposition leader retired Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye, the former Forum for Democratic Change, FDC presidential flag bearer, is finally free, but for how long remains a mystery.

His temporally freedom was granted by a Kampala High Court judge Justice Steven Musalu Musene who ruled Tuesday morning that Dr. Besigye had provided substantial grounds in his bail application.

His bail comes with a condition that the man who has stood against his former boss Yoweri Museveni four times and failed to capture power, does not engage in acts that breach peace.

Before his release, Besigye was asked to enter a non cash bond of 100 million Uganda shillings, roughly 28,000 US Dollars, as commitment that he will not engage in violent acts while on bail.

His sureties also entered a non cash bond of 100 million Uganda shillings each. They included FDC party president General Mugisha Muntu, Party Secretary General Nathan Nandala Mafabi, FDC Deputy Vice President Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo and Rukungiri municipality Member of Parliament Roland Mugume.

Justice Musalu noted that the State had failed to provide realistic grounds hindering the granting of bail to the suspect.

All roads leading to the criminal division of the High court were closed to traffic as Besigye appeared in court for the ruling on his bail application. Security was placed on high alert as has been the case every time the opposition leader was scheduled to make an appearance in court.

His vehicle snaked through the streets of the capital Kampala as Besigye drove home from the High Court amid chanting and singing by  his supporters who lined the streets to catch a glimpse of their man. At the time of writing, Besigye had safely arrived at his home in Kasangati a suburb of Kampala.

Besigye had been on remand at Luzira maximum prison since May this year. He was arrested on charges of treason on May 11, the eve of the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni.

The charges stemmed from a video clip that was circulated on the internet showing a mock swearing in of Kizza Besigye as the President of Uganda.

According to the Prosecution, Dr. Besigye unlawfully declared himself winner of the Presidential elections of 2016 and that he unlawfully took the Presidential oath, undertaking to execute the functions and duties of the office of the President.

The retired Colonel has been ordered to report to court once every fortnight starting on the 26th of July.

Gloria Nakiyimba

Gloria has experience spanning more than five years in Journalism, particularly in field reporting, editing, newscasting and management. She is currently working with Capital Radio Limited [91.3 Capital FM and 96.3 Beat FM] as Head of News, a position she has held since 2010.

Gloria previously worked as the Kampala Correspondent for Radio France International [RFI] generating local story leads with international inference for RFI’s global audience. She also served as Political Editor for The Weekly Mail Newspaper as well as Online Content Editor for the California based Ugandan broadcaster KubutakaRadio.com.