A key prosecution witness in Dr Kizza Besigye’s treason trial has told a Ugandan court that Kenyan police allegedly planted two pistols and fake currency inside a Nairobi apartment before the opposition leader arrived.
The allegation emerged during cross-examination at the High Court in Kampala, where defence lawyers are challenging the circumstances surrounding Besigye’s arrest at Riverside Apartments in Nairobi in November 2024.
Andrew Wilson, also known as Orlando, a prosecution witness, told Justice Emmanuel Baguma that the apartment had been arranged in advance and that the firearms and suspected counterfeit notes were already inside the meeting room before the accused arrived.
Wilson said the operation was intelligence-led and acknowledged that the scene had been stage-managed. According to his testimony, the two pistols had been placed on a counter near the entrance of the room.
Witness Says He Unloaded Loaded Pistols
Wilson further told the court that the pistols were loaded when he entered the room.
He said he removed the ammunition because he considered the presence of loaded firearms a safety risk.
The defence, however, questioned why Wilson, who has described himself as having military and security experience, would handle firearms whose presence he did not understand.
Lawyers also raised concerns that Wilson’s fingerprints could have been left on the weapons, potentially complicating any forensic investigation.
Wilson acknowledged that he did not have a Kenyan firearms licence and said he did not know where the guns and suspected fake currency were because they had not been produced in court.
Defence Challenges Evidence Trail
The defence also questioned what happened to the alleged evidence after the arrests.
Wilson reportedly told the court that the apartment was not cordoned off as a conventional crime scene and that he and an associate later returned to the premises and spent the night there.
The defence argued that the circumstances raised questions about the handling and preservation of the alleged evidence.
The witness maintained that the operation was an intelligence exercise rather than an ordinary criminal investigation.
Testimony Appears to Conflict With Earlier Account
The latest evidence has also drawn attention because it differs from Wilson’s earlier testimony.
In an earlier account, he reportedly told the court that Besigye had brought the two loaded pistols to the Nairobi meeting. A report published on September 7 said Wilson had testified that Besigye brought the firearms to Riverside Apartments and that Wilson subsequently unloaded them.
During the more recent cross-examination, however, Wilson agreed that the firearms and suspected fake currency were already in the room before Obeid Lutale arrived.
That apparent change has become a key point for the defence as it challenges the reliability of the prosecution’s account of what happened at the Nairobi apartment.
Besigye and Co-Accused Deny Treason Allegations
Besigye, Lutale and UPDF officer Captain Denis Oola are facing treason charges over allegations that they participated in a plot to overthrow Uganda’s government by force.
The accused deny the allegations.
The prosecution alleges that meetings linked to the alleged plot took place in Uganda and abroad, including in Kenya, Greece and Switzerland.
The case followed Besigye and Lutale’s arrest in Nairobi on November 16, 2024. They were initially prosecuted before Uganda’s General Court Martial before the charges were later converted to treason following a Supreme Court ruling concerning the military court’s jurisdiction over civilians.
The trial is continuing before Justice Baguma, with further proceedings expected as the court considers the evidence presented by the prosecution and the challenges raised by the defence.
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