Senior Council Martha Karua has revealed that she cannot defend her client Kiza Besigye at the Ugandan Court owing to restrictions in her special license.
Taking to her X page on Wednesday, Karua posted a photo of her in court, stating that she had to remain silent during the case.
“In court but without a voice due to the restrictive nature of my special license. In the meantime, my colleagues are doing a fantastic job,” she said.
She said she is reapplying for another special license.
Karua is in Uganda to represent Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale.
Karua’s remarks came after Ugandan Judge Douglas Singiza had directed that sick Besigye be returned to prison.
“This is an administrative order. If a prisoner is sick, I can’t continue with him. He might faint... Prison authorities take back Kizza Besigye we continue with the lawyers,” he ordered.
The directive followed Besigye’s appearance at the High Court, Civil Division, alongside Obeid Lutale for their habeas corpus hearing.
(Habeas Corpus is an order issued by the court to a person who has detained another person, to produce the body of the latter before it)
Judge Singiza also directed that Besigye’s lawyers stay and proceed with the Habeas Corpus plea.
The Opposition politician has been on a hunger strike over the last week.
His wife in a statement on Tuesday said that after being allowed to visit Besigye, she found him weak, dizzy and had lost a lot of weight.
She noted that it is painful to see her husband in such a ‘humiliating’ state.
She demanded Besigye’s immediate release, from the prison cells describing it as a place used to hold terrorists.
“Besigye is weak, has lost alarming weight, and is dizzy—he hasn’t eaten in 5 days. This is not just illegal detention, it is kidnapping. I am outraged and demand that (President) Kaguta Museveni and his son, the army chief, release him immediately. He is a citizen with rights—just like them!” Winnie said on X.
Karua was granted the practising certificate on January 6, 2025, by the Uganda Law Society, after almost a month of petitioning for the document.
“The Law Council has granted a temporary Practicing Certificate to Hon. Martha Karua, following her reapplication through the Uganda Law Society, as directed by our #RadicalNewBar President, Isaac Ssemakadde,” the Ugandan Law Society said in a statement.
The Council had earlier on declined to grant her the document, to facilitate her appearance before the General Court Martial, citing Section 18 of the Advocates Act.
The section imposes restrictions on the temporary grant of the right to practise law in Uganda.
