The High Court in Kampala has postponed the treason trial involving opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye and his two co-accused to October 5, 2026, after the prosecution team failed to appear at the scheduled time.
Justice Emmanuel Baguma expressed concern over the delay and cautioned that the next hearing would be the last adjournment he would grant in the case.
The case was scheduled to start at 11am on Wednesday. However, by 11:14am, the State attorneys and prison officials had not arrived in court.
Defence lawyer Farouk Kizito Kamulegeya told the court that the parties had agreed at the previous hearing to return at 11am.
He said Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Thomas Jatiko were attending another case.
Kamulegeya asked the judge to allow a 30-minute break to give the prosecutors time to come to court.
Justice Baguma rejected the request and pointed out that Birivumbuka and Jatiko had attended the previous proceedings and had not indicated that they would be engaged elsewhere on the scheduled hearing date.
The judge said the parties had agreed to the Wednesday hearing and criticised the failure to honour the arrangement.
He then adjourned the case to October 5, warning that there would be no further adjournment.
Besigye’s co-accused, Hajji Obeid Lutale and Captain Denis Oola, arrived at the court shortly after the case had been adjourned in a prison vehicle under heavy security.
The State lawyers, who had been attending proceedings in a separate case involving a suspected Allied Democratic Forces commander, rushed to the courtroom after seeing the prison vehicle arrive.
By that time, Justice Baguma had already left. Most members of the public had also left the courtroom, leaving the defence lawyers to brief the accused persons about the proceedings.
The judge had previously cautioned prison authorities over delays in bringing the accused persons to court.
Wednesday’s session was also expected to determine whether a transcription report prepared by Makerere University at a cost of Shs59.32 million would be admitted into evidence.
The report relates to five audio and video recordings that prosecution witness Medadi Ssentanda Erisa, a senior Makerere University lecturer and linguistics expert, said he received from the Deputy Director of CID in September 2025.
Ssentanda told court last week that the recordings, made during meetings in Geneva, Athens and Nairobi, ran for more than 25 hours in total.
He said Makerere University transcribed the recordings after receiving payment of Shs59.32 million and later submitted the transcription report to CID.
The defence has opposed the admission of the report, arguing that the original flash disk containing the recordings has not been presented in court. The lawyers say this raises questions about the authenticity and handling of the electronic evidence.
The prosecution maintains that the objection is premature because it is seeking to introduce the signed transcription report and not the original flash disk at this stage.
Besigye, Lutale and Oola are accused of holding meetings in several countries as part of an alleged plan to overthrow the Ugandan government.
The prosecution alleges that the group sought funding, weapons and training for paramilitary activities. It further alleges that Besigye met a person identified as Andrew Wilson, whom the State describes as a Kurdish intelligence operative, and received money connected to plans to facilitate the movement of Ugandans to Kenya for military training.
The State also alleges that the accused persons discussed acquiring weapons and other materials and planned attacks against government targets.
The accused persons have denied the charges, and the prosecution says it will rely on witnesses, electronic recordings, communications, immigration records and telephone data during the trial.
