Adam Ampa Besigye, the son of veteran opposition politician Col. (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, has made an emotional appeal to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba to forgive his father and consider releasing him as he battles deteriorating health.
In a deeply personal letter addressed to President Museveni and the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Adam said he was writing not as a politician but as a son whose heart had been broken by watching his father collapse in court.
His appeal came amid growing concern over Dr Besigye’s health after the 70-year-old opposition politician reportedly collapsed in the dock during his treason trial at the High Court in Kampala.
According to the account shared alongside Adam’s letter, Besigye was later admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital, where his condition was described as critical.
His wife, Winnie Byanyima, said he had become unresponsive and could not speak, while his sister and personal doctor, Dr Olive Kobusingye, was initially denied access to him in court.
For Adam, the dramatic events in court represented more than another chapter in his father’s long-running political confrontation with the establishment. They were a painful reminder that political battles can have devastating consequences for families.
“Today, my heart broke as I watched my father Kizza Besigye collapse in court,” Adam wrote.“Regardless of politics, no son should have to witness his father reach such a state while standing before the very law he served and dedicating his life.”
‘I write to you not as a politician, but as a son’
The emotional tone of the letter was clear from the beginning. Adam acknowledged the bitter political history between his father and President Museveni but appealed to the two leaders to look beyond politics and consider the humanitarian question surrounding Besigye’s continued detention.
“I write to you not as a politician, but as a son,” he said.
He asked Museveni and Muhoozi to demonstrate “mercy, compassion, and humanity” by allowing his father to regain his freedom.According to Adam, the Besigye family firmly believes that the opposition leader is innocent of the allegations against him and has never sought to harm President Museveni or his family.
He acknowledged that his father has spent much of his adult life opposing Museveni politically, but framed that opposition as a matter of political conviction rather than personal hatred.“Throughout his life, he has stood by his convictions and pursued political change through his beliefs, even when those beliefs have placed him in opposition to your government,” he wrote.
Adam warned that the continued detention of his father risked turning a political disagreement into a humanitarian tragedy.“My father’s health continues to deteriorate,” he said, adding that Uganda risked losing not only one of its most recognised political figures but also an opportunity to demonstrate that justice could be stronger than political rivalry.
From bush doctor to Museveni’s political ally
The appeal carries particular weight because Besigye and Museveni once stood on the same side of Uganda’s political struggle.
Long before he became one of President Museveni’s most persistent political opponents, Besigye was associated with the National Resistance Movement during the bush war that brought Museveni to power in 1986.
Besigye served as a personal doctor to Museveni during the armed struggle and later held a number of important positions within the new administration and the NRM establishment.
In the early years after the National Resistance Army (NRA) captured power, Besigye served as National Political Commissar (NPC). He also served as Junior Minister of State for Internal Affairs and was a delegate to the Constituent Assembly, where the 1995 Constitution was debated and adopted. He later became Chief of Logistics and Engineering (CLE) in the armed forces.
For a time, Besigye was therefore not an outsider to the system he would later spend decades challenging. He was part of the political and military structure that emerged from the bush war.
But the relationship gradually broke down.
Besigye became increasingly critical of what he viewed as the direction in which the NRM government was moving. His dissatisfaction eventually pushed him away from the ruling establishment and into open political opposition.
His break with Museveni transformed Uganda’s political landscape and created one of the country’s longest-running political rivalries.
From Reform Agenda to FDC and PFF
After leaving the government and distancing himself from the NRM establishment, Besigye became a central figure in the formation of the Reform Agenda, a political pressure movement that challenged Museveni’s political dominance.
The Reform Agenda later evolved into the Forum for Democratic Change, or FDC, with Besigye emerging as its most prominent political figure.
He went on to contest the presidency against Museveni in several elections, becoming one of the most recognisable faces of Uganda’s opposition.His political career has since been marked by repeated arrests, detention, legal battles and confrontations with security agencies.
Over the years, Besigye’s criticism of the government became increasingly uncompromising, while the state repeatedly accused him and his supporters of political misconduct and other offences.Despite losing presidential contests, Besigye remained a powerful opposition voice and a symbol of resistance to Museveni’s long rule.
He later moved beyond the formal leadership of the FDC and became associated with the People’s Front for Freedom, continuing to advocate political change outside the NRM system.
For supporters, he represents courage and resistance. For the government and its allies, he has often been portrayed as a destabilising political actor.It is against this long and bitter history that his son’s appeal for mercy has now been made.
A son asks for reconciliation
Adam told Museveni and Muhoozi that his family believes Besigye has never sought to harm either of them or their relatives. Rather than demanding victory for one side, he asked for reconciliation.
“As his son, I do not wish to inherit bitterness,” Adam wrote. “I wish to see reconciliation.”He expressed hope that one day Ugandans of different political beliefs would be able to look back on the current period and conclude that compassion had prevailed over conflict.
That plea is particularly striking given the hostility that has characterised the relationship between Besigye and Museveni for many years.Adam also appealed directly on humanitarian grounds, asking the authorities to consider his father’s age and declining health.
“I respectfully ask that you consider his age, his declining health, and the humanitarian concerns surrounding his continued detention,” he wrote.
He further asked that Besigye be given access to appropriate medical care and every protection afforded to him under the law. Above all, he asked for his release so that he could return to his family.
Collapse deepens concern over trial
Besigye’s collapse has intensified concerns surrounding his ongoing treason proceedings. The court had insisted that Besigye and his co-accused continue with court-appointed lawyers despite their objections and their insistence on being represented by advocates of their own choice.
Besigye reportedly protested during the proceedings, questioning how the trial could proceed without his legal team.
“How can I proceed without representation? Have those lawyers met me? We can’t continue. We shall not allow this trial to proceed,” he was quoted as saying.
The confrontation came as the court proceeded with testimony from a prosecution witness, despite pending applications relating to the conduct of the proceedings and the dispute over legal representation. Besigye subsequently collapsed in the dock.
The incident sparked criticism from opposition politicians, lawyers and his supporters, who questioned whether the proceedings should have continued given his condition and the dispute over legal representation.
The Uganda Law Society also expressed concern about the handling of the case, stressing the importance of fair trial rights, medical fitness, legal representation and transparency.
Political rivalry versus human compassion
For Adam, however, the immediate issue goes beyond the legal arguments surrounding his father’s case.
It is about whether Uganda’s political conflicts should continue until they consume the people involved. He appealed to Museveni and Muhoozi to rise above the politics of the past and make a decision rooted in compassion.
“Whatever personal disagreements have existed over the years, they need not end in tragedy,” he wrote.
That message appears to recognise the extraordinary history linking Museveni and Besigye: former comrades in a guerrilla movement who eventually became political adversaries at the centre of one of Uganda’s most enduring conflicts. Adam’s letter therefore places the current crisis in deeply human terms.
His father is no longer simply the opposition politician who has challenged Museveni for decades. He is also an ageing husband, a father, a doctor and a former soldier whose son is asking for the opportunity to see him return home.
The appeal ends with a prayer for wisdom and peace.
“I pray that God grants you wisdom in the decisions before you and that He blesses Uganda with peace, justice, and unity,” Adam wrote. Whether the appeal will influence the authorities remains uncertain.
But its emotional message is unmistakable: after decades of political confrontation, a son is asking Uganda’s most powerful men to choose mercy over rivalry, reconciliation over bitterness and humanity over political conflict.
Author Profile
- Charles Gazza Kodili is a seasoned journalist with over 20 years of experience in the media industry. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication. He’s currently the Chief Editor at the Investigator.
Charles can also be reached via; Tel: +256 774 108978
Email: [email protected]
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