By Mulengera Reporters
Key state prosecution witness in the Kizza Besigye treason trial American private security investigator Andrew Wilson Orlando on Wednesday explained how and why NUP President Bobi Wine escaped being involved in the treasonous plot his mentor Dr. Kizza Besigye is alleged to have involved himself in.
The controversial Muzungu said this as part of his examination-in-chief evidence when he revealed that, having successfully lured people in the Besigye universe into the treasonous conspiracy, he proposed to both Dr. KB and Joel Wakayima that Bobi Wine gets recruited into the whole thing since he was the one with the most enthusiastic crowd in Uganda as of that time.
Wilson told the Justice Emmanuel Baguma-led Court that this move was, however, dropped when Besigye unequivocally said no to the whole thing. For reasons that were never disclosed by the witness, Besigye declined involving Bobi Wine each time the Mzungu proposed so.
Detailed reporting is contained in the following story authored by Aggrey Baba:
By Aggrey Baba
National Unity Platform (NUP) top leader Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), on Wednesday emerged as an unexpected figure in Dr Kizza Besigye’s treason trial on after a prosecution witness told the High Court in Kampala that he repeatedly proposed bringing Kyagulanyi into an alleged plot to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni — only for Besigye to reject the idea.
The revelation gives a fresh twist to the case and how Ugandans see is, because the same witness who described an alleged plan involving drones, explosives, trained fighters and the assassination of Museveni told court that Kyagulanyi was never brought into the operation despite his repeated attempts to have him included.
American private security investigator Andrew Wilson Orlando told Justice Emmanuel Baguma that he had infiltrated the alleged network by posing as a wealthy foreign financier capable of providing millions of dollars, weapons and military training.
According to Wilson, his attempt to bring Kyagulanyi into the discussions was unsuccessful because Besigye rejected the proposal, for reasons Wilson never detailed.
The witness did not say Kyagulanyi attended the alleged meetings, accepted money, received weapons or agreed to participate in the alleged operation. Instead, his evidence was that the NUP leader was suggested for inclusion but was kept outside after Besigye’s refusal.
That detail comes at a very sensitive moment for Kyagulanyi and the NUP, whose leadership has itself come under intense pressure from arrests, prosecutions, disappearances and the departure of senior figures from Uganda.
While Besigye has been in prison facing treason charges, several of Kyagulanyi’s closest political associates and security personnel have also spent months in detention.
NUP deputy spokesperson Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, for example, was arrested and later remanded in connection with charges arising from alleged unlawful military-style drills. He has remained in Luzira for months and was denied temporary release even after the death of his wife, Edith Katende Mufumbiro.
Other NUP figures named in court cases include Eddie Mutwe, Achileo Kivumbi and Tasi Calvin (Bobi Giant), a group which was has been in prison for months over allegations relating to unlawful military drills, with several of them being Kyagulanyi’s supporters or personal security personnel.
The arrests and prolonged detention have formed part of the difficult political environment surrounding Kyagulanyi’s party.
And while his lieutenants were being arrested, Kyagulanyi himself eventually left Uganda after spending weeks in hiding following the January 2026 election.
He announced his departure in March, saying he had temporarily left the country, while he had reportedly spent about two months in hiding following the disputed election.
The irony now emerging from the Besigye trial is that, according to Wilson, Kyagulanyi could have been drawn into the alleged operation had Besigye accepted the proposal.
Wilson painted a picture of an alleged conspiracy that went far beyond ordinary political mobilization.
He told court that his involvement began after Joel Wakayima, a Ugandan based in Switzerland, approached him seeking weapons, security expertise and paramilitary training for a group of Ugandans.
Wilson said he instead alerted Ugandan security agencies and agreed to work undercover.
He created a fictitious company and presented himself as a wealthy foreign financier with access to associates who could provide up to $5 million, military training and weapons.
The money, according to his testimony, was to be deposited into a Dubai bank account to which Besigye would have access.
The weapons sought included hand grenades, drones and surface-to-air missiles, while approximately 60 men and women were to be recruited, expected to undergo paramilitary training in Kisumu, Kenya.
Wilson told court that he secretly recorded his interactions with Besigye and Wakayima using concealed equipment, including a camera hidden inside a power bank.
The alleged operation, he said, later moved from preparations to plans for attacks designed to create chaos in Kampala.
Wilson claimed that a drone was talked about as a possible weapon to interfere with a commercial aircraft at Entebbe International Airport.
He also said that Wakayima proposed detonating a hand grenade at Cafe Javas on Acacia Avenue because senior government officials were believed to frequent the restaurant.
But the most serious allegation came when Wilson told court that the discussions turned to assassinating President Museveni.
According to him, drones were discussed as a possible means of attacking Museveni.
Wilson claimed the planners were concerned that directly linking Museveni’s assassination to Besigye would damage his political reputation, and they therefore considered blaming the assassination on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) creating a cover that would distance Besigye from killing the Head of State.
The strategy, Wilson said, was to create widespread instability and economic disruption before allowing the military to take over government, and that through Besigye’s men who are very close to Museveni, the military would then handover the presidency to him.
He further claimed that when he questioned whether the group had enough support to capture Kampala, Besigye reportedly said he had support from senior serving military officers.
Wilson said he later became unable to provide the promised weapons and began giving Besigye and Wakayima excuses while cooperating with Ugandan security agencies.
The weapons delivery was eventually complicated by concerns over surveillance at Kisumu airport, forcing discussions about an alternative route through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He said he later travelled to Kisumu, where several people were arrested, including 36 Ugandans who were subsequently returned to Uganda and charged with terrorism-related offences, though they were later released on bail.
Against this backdrop, the Bobi Wine element becomes politically striking.
The witness’s account suggests that Kyagulanyi was considered useful enough to be proposed for inclusion in the alleged operation, but that Besigye allegedly chose not to involve him.
And while Kyagulanyi survived being implicated in this particular case, his political camp has continued to face a separate wave of legal and security pressure.
Muwanga Kivumbi, one of NUP’s senior leaders, has faced terrorism-related proceedings and was later rearrested after being released on bail, while NUP’s deputy president for Northern Uganda, Dr Lina Zedriga Waru, was arrested during the post-election period and charged with incitement to violence.
Different publications reported at the beginning of this month that she had secretly left Uganda after sustained surveillance.
That development came after Kyagulanyi himself left Uganda, meaning that two of the most senior figures in NUP’s leadership structure are now outside the country.
Against that background, Wilson’s testimony creates an awkward but important distinction for Kyagulanyi.
His name, according to him, entered discussions surrounding the alleged operation, but only because Wilson himself repeatedly suggested bringing him in, and Besigye said no.
That leaves Kyagulanyi outside the prosecution witness’s account of the alleged weapons, training, assassination and military takeover plans, even as the wider political environment around him has become increasingly hostile. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
