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Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe (; born 22 April 1956), commonly known by his nickname Colonel Dr. Kizza Besigye, is a Ugandan physician, politician, and former military officer. He served as the president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) political party and was an unsuccessful candidate in Uganda's 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 presidential elections, losing all of them to the incumbent, Yoweri Museveni, who has been president of Uganda since 1986. The results of the 2006 elections were contested in court, and the court found massive rigging and disenfranchisement. Besigye allowed an early internal FDC election for a successor president, which took place on 24 November 2012.
Besigye enrolled at Makerere University in 1975 and graduated with a degree in human medicine in 1980. While in the bush, he became Yoweri Museveni's personal physician. When the National Resistance Movement and Army (NRM/A) came to power in January 1986, he was appointed Minister of State for Internal Affairs. He later held the positions of Minister of State in the President's office and National Political Commissar. In 1991, he became the commanding officer of the mechanized regiment in Masaka, central Uganda, and in 1993 was appointed the army's chief of logistics and engineering.
On 7 July 1999, Besigye married Winnie Byanyima, a Ugandan Member of Parliament, in Nsambya, Kampala.
In October 2000, Besigye announced that he would run against Museveni in the 2001 elections. He retired from the Uganda People's Defence Forces in 2001, having attained the rank of colonel. During his campaign, Besigye, who was Museveni's strongest opponent, accused the government of widespread corruption and pushed for an end to Museveni's "Movement" system, which he said had served its purpose as an instrument in Uganda's political transition to multiparty democracy.
He lost the election, which was marred by claims of widespread vote rigging, violence and coercion of voters. In March 2001 Besigye petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify the election results. A panel of five judges voted 5–0 that there had been cheating but decided 3–2 not to annul the elections.
In June 2001, Besigye was briefly arrested and questioned by the police over allegations of treason. The government accused him of being behind a shadowy rebel group, the People's Redemption Army (PRA), allegedly based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Besigye's supporters said the government had fabricated the existence of the insurgents to harm his credibility among Ugandans and the international community.
In August 2001, Besigye fled the country, citing persecution by the state. He said he was afraid for his life. He lived in South Africa for four years, during which time he continued to criticise Museveni's government. Besigye returned to Uganda on 26 October 2005, just in time to register as a voter in the 2006 elections. He was greeted by thousands and hit the campaign trail almost immediately, addressing throngs of supporters across the country. In November 2005, William Lacy Swing, the United Nations special envoy to the Great Lakes region, confirmed the existence of the PRA, naming it as one of the foreign, armed groups operating in the eastern DRC.
Besigye's campaign came to an abrupt halt on 14 November when he was arrested on charges of treason and rape. The treason charges pertained to his alleged links to the PRA and the 20-year-old northern Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebellion. The rape charge related to a 1997 accusation by the daughter of a deceased friend. His arrest sparked riots in Kampala and around the country. Museveni was accused of trumping up charges against Besigye in an attempt to discredit him or prevent him from standing in the election. Both the local and international community came down heavily against Museveni's administration, urging it to release Besigye on bail. The government reacted by banning all public rallies, demonstrations, assemblies or seminars related to Besigye's trial. It further barred the media from discussing the trial, threatening media houses with the revocation of their licences should they refuse to heed the ban.
On 25 November, Uganda's high court granted Besigye bail, but he was immediately sent back to jail on military charges of terrorism and the illegal possession of weapons. Besigye denied the charges and has argued that as a retiree from the armed forces, he should no longer be subject to an army court-martial. He was freed on bail by the high court on 6 January. Although the charges against him stand, Besigye continues to pursue his ambition to become the next president of Uganda.
Following his poor performance in the 2011 presidential elections, Besigye directed his party members elected to the 9th parliament to boycott it. This was rejected by the newly elected MPs, claiming that the election victory was out of their personal effort and not Besigye's or the Party, contributing to rising tensions within the FDC.
Besigye was arrested for a fourth time on 28 April 2011, during a "walk-to-work" protest over the high prices of food and fuel. He was pepper-sprayed and dragged from his car by police. This was the catalyst for additional protests leading to riots across Kampala, in which at least two people were killed and 120 people wounded, leading to some 360 arrests.
In the aftermath of this election, Besigye urged his supporters to protest the results peacefully, claiming that the electoral process had been rigged "using intimidation of voters, imprisonment of opponents, sabotage of rallies, late delivery of election materials, delayed opening of election centers, vote falsification at undisclosed tally centers, and bribery, among other malpractices."
On May 11, 2016, Besigye secretly swore himself in as president of Uganda, a day before the official swearing-in ceremony of President Museveni. He was arrested by the Ugandan Army moments into his swearing in. He later established "The people's government" as he believed he was the rightful winner of the 2016 elections.
A few days after his release from prison on bail, Besigye resumed protests on Kampala streets and was promptly arrested by Uganda police again, together with his colleague Samuel Lubega Makaku, and sent to prison. Efforts to apply for bail were futile since it was past court hours and his lawyers had to apply for bail on another day. The nature of the court session was protested by Besigye's lawyers, who insisted that the suspects had been attended to by the presiding magistrate past official court hours. The bail application that was later filed was also denied and dismissed by the Buganda road court grade one Magistrate Asuman Muhumuza, who said he had no guarantee that Besigye would not commit similar acts once released on bail again.
On 31 January 2025, the Supreme Court of Uganda declared that the trial of civilians in military courts was unconstitutional, ordering an immediate halt to all prosecutions against Besigye. However, the military announced that it would continue trying Besigye. On 11 February, Besigye began a hunger strike. On 13 February, he was described by his lawyer as being ill and in need of specialised medical care, adding that he was suffering from hypertension. On 16 February, the government said that it would transfer jurisdiction over Besigye's case to a civilian court while urging him to end his hunger strike. On 18 February, Besigye was briefly confined at a private clinic.
While in detention, Besigye launched a new political party, the People's Front for Freedom, on 8 July 2025.
interview on BBC News
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