Kenyan lawyer and politician Martha Karua has strongly rejected a Ugandan court’s claim that she could have joined Dr. Kizza Besigye’s treason defence remotely through Zoom.
The court reportedly said Besigye’s lawyers could have asked for directions to allow Karua to participate virtually in the proceedings.
Karua, however, says that option wasn’t realistic given what had already happened to the defence team.
Karua was deported from Entebbe Airport in June 2026 after arriving in Uganda to support Besigye’s legal defence. She was later declared persona non grata and barred from entering the country.
Her argument is that after being removed from Uganda, it was unreasonable for the court to suggest that she could simply participate as if nothing had happened.
Karua also pointed to the arrest and alleged torture of prominent Ugandan lawyer Erias Lukwago, who is part of Besigye’s defence team.
Lukwago has also faced serious charges, which Karua says have created fear around the entire defence team.
In a strong reaction, Karua accused the Ugandan Judiciary of failing in its duty to protect justice.
She described the Judiciary as having “abdicated its duty as a temple of justice” and appealed to international bodies, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international institutions.
The dispute now goes beyond whether Karua could have appeared on Zoom. It raises a bigger question about whether lawyers can freely defend their clients when members of the defence team face arrest, deportation or intimidation.
For many Ugandans following Besigye’s case, that is the real issue.