By Aggrey Baba
The People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) has demanded the immediate dismissal of the treason case against its founding leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, arguing that recent testimony by a prosecution witness has exposed a manufactured case built around planted guns.
The party made the demand on Monday during a press conference at its headquarters on Katonga Road in Kampala.
The PFF’s position centres on the evidence of prosecution witness Wilson Andrew a.k.a Orlando, who recently told the High Court that the Nairobi apartment where Besigye was arrested had been pre-arranged and that Kenyan police placed guns inside the room.
According to the witness’s testimony, when asked by Justice, during cross-examination who had put the guns in the room, he responded that Kenyan police had taken them to the room and placed them there, according to Harold Kaija, the PFF Deputy Secretary General.
Asked whether the guns had been planted, the witness, Kaija said answered: “It looks like it.”
For the PFF, the testimony has fundamentally altered the basis of the prosecution’s case and raises questions over the circumstances in which the firearms were recovered and subsequently linked to Besigye.
“The prosecution’s own witness has said the pistols were planted,” Kaija said, delivering the PFF statement.
The party further seized on the witness’s evidence concerning the wider operation in which Besigye was allegedly lured into meetings using false identities, concealed recording devices and promises involving money, weapons and military training.
The PFF characterized the operation as a security sting designed to manufacture evidence against Besigye and HajjiObediLutale, rather than a genuine criminal conspiracy.
The party therefore wants Justice Baguma to dismiss the case, arguing that once the circumstances surrounding the guns and the broader operation are considered, there is no credible basis upon which the treason charges should continue.
The demand comes as the State continues presenting evidence against Besigye and his co-accused, maintaining that the meetings and activities documented by its witnesses were part of a broader plan to overthrow the government and also assassinate the president of Uganda.
The PFF, however, rejected that account and accused the government of using security agencies to construct criminal cases against political opponents.
The PFF also demanded the release of Besigye, Hajji Obedi Lutale and other opposition figures it described as political prisoners, including its chairman, Erias Lukwago, and Secretary for Internal Affairs Samuel Makhoha.
The party further accused senior Ugandan security officials, including Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Gen. James Birungi, and Gen Abel Kandiho, of being involved in the alleged operation.
It described Captain Denis Oola, who is also facing charges, as a scapegoat and called for those it considers the principal architects of the operation to be held accountable. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
