The High Court in Kampala has once again declined to grant bail to detained opposition stalwart Rt. Col. (Rtd) Dr. Kizza Besigye and his aide Hajji Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya, ruling that the accused must first formally take plea on the treason charges before seeking any further relief from court.
In a ruling delivered in open court on December 29, 2025, presiding judge Justice Emmanuel Baguma dismissed an application seeking a stay of proceedings in Criminal Session Case No. 335 of 2025, as well as a request for bail, directing that plea-taking should proceed immediately.
“It is therefore my view and opinion that for the interest of justice to both parties, the Applicants should proceed to take plea,” Justice Baguma ruled.
“If they so wish, they can apply for bail at any later stage if there is any delay in hearing of their case. I am aware and alive to the constitutional right of presumption of innocence of the Applicants until proven guilty.”
The judge faulted the defence for repeatedly filing interlocutory applications instead of responding to the substantive charges, noting that the case had stalled for months as a result.
“According to the court record, the Applicants were committed on 29th May 2025 and the matter was fixed for plea taking on 1st September 2025, but to date the Applicants have never taken plea,” he said.
“Instead, they resorted to filing applications after applications, making the process of plea taking difficult.”
Justice Baguma concluded that the application for stay of proceedings and bail lacked merit and dismissed it in its entirety.
“In the final result, and for the reasons stated above, this application for stay of proceedings in Criminal Session Case No. 335 of 2025 and releasing the Applicants on bail is dismissed,” he ruled.
The decision has sparked debate within legal circles, with some lawyers including Ferdinandius Loyola describing it as a new procedural precedent.
“Every day we get new precedents. Even though the Constitution and the Guidelines for Bail provide for applying for bail at any time after being charged, the new precedent is that: apply for bail after plea taking. The reason this is a new precedent is because the judge didn’t cite any single authority in support,” says lawyerLoyola
While Uganda’s Constitution and bail guidelines allow an accused person to apply for bail at any stage after being charged, the court effectively held that plea-taking must come first.
Despite the court’s directive, Dr. Besigye and Hajji Lutale declined to take plea, arguing that the indictment before court is fundamentally flawed and cannot form a lawful basis for trial.
Through their lawyers Erias Lukwago and Martha Karua, the accused challenged the validity of the indictment, stating that it was neither signed nor dated by the Registrar of the High Court as required by law.
The defence further pointed to alleged inaccuracies in the personal details and particulars of one of the co-accused, Capt. Dennis Ola, arguing that these defects rendered the charge sheet incurably defective.
Mr. Lukwago told court that proceeding with plea-taking on such an indictment would amount to a miscarriage of justice and urged the judge to halt the process until the defects were addressed.
However, the prosecution strongly opposed the objection.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Thomas Jatiko, alongside Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka, insisted that the accused must first enter plea, arguing that any errors on the indictment could be rectified through amendments during the trial.
After hearing both sides, Justice Baguma directed that the accused be returned to court the following day, when he is expected to rule specifically on whether the indictment is defective as alleged by the defence.
Dr. Besigye and Hajji Lutale are facing treason charges arising from what prosecutors describe as a coordinated plot to overthrow the government of Uganda between 2023 and 2025.
According to the indictment, the accused are alleged to have played central roles in organising meetings, mobilising financial resources and collecting intelligence in furtherance of the plot.
The prosecution claims that the alleged activities took place in multiple international locations, including Geneva (Switzerland), Athens (Greece), Nairobi (Kenya) and Kampala.
The two have been held on remand at Luzira Prison for over a year following their arrest in Nairobi in November last year, a detention that continues to draw scrutiny from human rights groups and opposition supporters.
