The High Court in Kampala on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, adjourned the treason trial of Dr Kizza Besigye to October 5 after state prosecutors failed to appear at the scheduled time, prompting an visibly frustrated Justice Emmanuel Baguma to warn that this would be the final adjournment of the case .
The drama unfolded when Justice Baguma entered Courtroom at 11:10 am, ten minutes after the hearing was supposed to resume, only to find that Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Thomas Jatiko and Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka were nowhere to be seen .
Defence lawyer Farouk Kizito Kamulegeya informed the judge that the two prosecutors were handling another matter elsewhere on the court premises, asking for a 30-minute standover .
Justice Baguma rejected the request outright, noting that Birivumbuka had been present at the previous session and had not disclosed any conflicting engagement. “This is not a court of games,” the judge stated before adjourning the matter to October 5 .
The adjournment was especially notable because the prison bus carrying co-accused Obeid Lutale and Captain Denis Oola arrived only after Justice Baguma had already left the courtroom.
The two prosecutors rushed over upon hearing the bus had arrived, but by then the judge had departed and most members of the public had dispersed, leaving only defence lawyers to brief their clients on what had transpired .
The court had also been expected to rule on whether a Shs59.32 million Makerere University transcription report could be admitted as evidence in the case, a decision that now awaits the next hearing .
Besigye, the four-time presidential candidate and opposition leader, was not present in court, having collapsed during a July hearing and remaining hospitalised at Mulago National Referral Hospital .
The prosecution alleges that Besigye, Lutale, and Captain Oola participated in meetings held between February 2023 and November 2024 in Geneva, Athens, Nairobi, and various locations in Uganda as part of a plan to overthrow the government by force . All three deny the charges .
The People’s Front for Freedom has intensified its demands for Justice Baguma’s removal from the case, with Interim Executive Chairman Lulume Bayiga declaring: “This is no longer a trial, it is persecution. Justice Baguma has demonstrated open bias against our leaders” .
The party’s Secretary General Harold Kaija added that the prosecution’s case has been exposed as fabricated, pointing to testimony from state witness Andrew Wilson, who confirmed under oath that he was paid by the Ugandan government to record Besigye and that guns and counterfeit currency were planted in a Nairobi apartment prior to Lutale’s arrest .