The People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) opposition party has announced plans to mount a wide-reaching petition campaign targeting key justice and governance institutions, in an escalating dispute over the conduct of Justice Emmanuel Baguma in the ongoing treason trial of opposition figure Col (Rtd) Dr. Warren Kizza Besigye.
Speaking at a press briefing held on Wednesday, at the party headquarters along Katonga Road in Nakasero, Kampala, senior PFF leaders accused the judge of lacking impartiality and urged immediate intervention by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, Parliament, and other appointing authorities to halt his involvement in the case.
Deputy Party President for Buganda, Dr. Lulume Bayiga, alleged that the proceedings had been compromised, claiming the judge had shown persistent hostility toward the accused.
They called on supporters of political change across Uganda to back the petition, framing it as a broader struggle for judicial independence and fairness in high-profile political prosecutions.
The party’s president, Erias Lukwago, also appealed to the Uganda Law Society to intervene, arguing that the integrity of the legal process had been undermined in a case he described as politically sensitive and procedurally troubled.
Ambassador Waiswa Birigwa, who serves as deputy head of the Council of Eminent Persons within the party structure, said the campaign would extend nationwide, with the aim of collecting over one million signatures in support of the petition.
He alleged that the judge’s conduct had eroded confidence in the court process, while urging a reassignment of the case to restore public trust in judicial proceedings.
PFF Women’s League Chairperson Ingrid Turinawe acknowledged that the charges against Besigye fall within Uganda’s legal framework, but argued that the proceedings require a different judicial officer, insisting that concerns over perceived bias risk undermining the legitimacy of the trial.
The announcement comes in the wake of heightened courtroom tension on June 8, when proceedings were briefly disrupted after Justice Baguma exited the courtroom during submissions by Besigye, who was questioning the court’s impartiality and the judge’s conduct.
Besigye, a long-standing opposition figure, has been in detention at Luzira Prison since November 2024 on treason charges linked to allegations that he participated in clandestine meetings abroad aimed at planning the violent overthrow of the government.
The case remains one of the most closely watched political trials in Uganda, drawing sustained attention from legal observers and political actors alike.
