Kampala, Uganda | URN | The first Prosecution witness in Dr. Kizza Besigye’s treason trial told the High Court in Kampala that the Kenyan Police set up two pistols and the entire crime scene.
The court heard that Dr Besigye and his co-accused Hajji Obeid Lutale unknowingly walked into the house in which they were arrested in Nairobi.
Andrew Wilson, a Kurdish Private Investigator and key state witness, has been appearing before the Court since August 2026, when the trial started. He was cross-examined by the lawyers representing Lutale in a trial presided over by Judge Emmanuel Baguma.
During the cross-examination by lawyer Farouq Kamulegeya, Wilson testified that the two pistols and fake currency notes were allegedly planted by the Kenyan Police in a meeting room at Riverside apartments in Nairobi, Kenya. He explained that it was purely an intelligence-led operation.
Wilson said that the Kenyan Police facilitated and rented an apartment in Riverside Hotel in Nairobi, planted the evidence (guns and fake currency notes), and he (Wilson) lured Dr. Besigye and Hajji Lutale into the said room to discuss an alleged plot intending to overthrow the government of Uganda.
He noted that when he entered the room, as a Security Personnel, he unloaded the bullets which were reportedly already inside the magazine.
Asked why he did this, the Court heard that Wilson did it for safety reasons. He was, however, challenged by the Defense lawyer Kamulegeya that, as a soldier who has worked in several places including Latin America, Nigeria, Mexico, Colombia, United Arab Emirates, among other areas, he is not supposed to touch a gun that doesn’t belong to him and go ahead to unload its bullets.
He stated that he doesn’t know where the guns and the fake currency notes are since the prosecution has not yet exhibited them in court.
According to the Defense Lawyers, if those guns were brought for Forensic Analysis, it would be Wilson’s fingerprints that would be found there instead of the accused person’s.
He has also been accused of tampering with evidence and that he committed a crime by having a firearm while in Kenya without a license.
But he insisted that he wasn’t committing any crime, as the guns were reportedly decorated by the Kenyan Police.
He also confirmed that the entire scene was stage-managed as an intelligence operation after being asked why everyone in the room got arrested, and it was only he (Wilson) and his associate who survived the arrest. He had earlier told Court that he never wanted to be arrested because he feared being beaten by security.
Wilson explained that, along with his associate, he identifies as Zac Ahmed, a name he got for purposes of that intelligence operation. On November 16th, 2024, he drove from Uganda to Nairobi, where a Kenyan policeman led them to an already set-up room for an alleged meeting with Dr. Besigye, who had promised to come with his second-in-command.
Wilson, who revealed that he is completely uneducated, having dropped out of school at the age of 15, told the judge that he met Hajji Lutale once in Kenya and, apart from an “Arabic greeting” of Assalam Aleikum”, Hajji Lutale never engaged in any discussions regarding the alleged plot to overthrow the government of Uganda.
He noted that Lutale remained quiet throughout the entire meeting. This contradicted these previous statements, where he said that Lutale had participated in the meeting.
Asked what he does for a living, Wilson, who has been in Uganda for the last six months while preparing to testify against Dr. Besigye, said he is a man of all trades.
He has mentioned that he is a former soldier in the British Army, an investigator, espionage master, crime prevention trainer and an Author, services he provides through alleged online business, Risks Incorporation Ltd.
Wilson, however, refused or avoided some questions that were being fired at him, saying that the information related to such was classified.
The cross-examination included questions on who drove him from Uganda to the Kenyan border, how he accessed a second vehicle from the border to the Riverside Hotel, who connected him, where the money went, the issue of guns, among others.
He also had no specific answers when he was asked if he had training on infiltration as a soldier. Instead, Wilson became emotional and started referring the defense lawyer to his own military- and intelligence-related books he has reportedly authored for him to confirm if he is stupid or not.
Wilson also confirmed to the court that he did not know Capt. Denis Oola, who is co-jointly charged with Dr. Besigye and Hajji Lutale on treason. He confirmed that Oola’s name didn’t feature anywhere in the meetings he allegedly had with Besigye and Lutale.
He also confirmed that Oola was not at the crime scene and doesn’t know why he was arrested.
He also told the Court that he gave some of the recordings from the treason planning meetings with Besigye to former Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence Commander General James Birungi and then General Otto.
It also emerged from the cross-examination that Wilson did not submit the evidence of an email from Joel Wakayima, who was reportedly the first person to approach him to provide services like military training to several opposition people in Uganda on how to overthrow the government of Uganda.
Asked why he didn’t submit such key evidence, Wilson told the Court that he was gathering intelligence but not evidence, for which even the government of Uganda, he said, paid extremely limited resources for the job.
The treason trial is proceeding in the absence of Dr. Besigye, who is on remand at Luzira Prison. The Prosecution is being represented by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Thomas Jatiko and Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka in this case.
On the other hand, Lutale is being represented by a team comprised of Wilson Kato, his young brother Farouq Kamulegeya, daughter Mariam Lutale, and Syrus Ogul.
Lawyers Sylvia Namawejje Ebitu, Julius Sserwambala and Sarah Awelo appear for Captain Denis Oola.
Besigye was arrested on November 16th 2024, at Riverside Hotel in Kenya, and days later, he was arraigned before the General Court Martial in Makindye together with Lutale on charges of unlawful possession of firearms and treachery.
The charges later on, in February 2025, turned to treason shortly after the Supreme Court decision that nullified the trial of civilians within the Court Martial.
The case will now return on September 17th 2026 at midday for re-examination by the Prosecution as the trial moves closer to hearing evidence from a second witness.
Besigye, Lutale and Captain Oola are jointly charged with treason over allegations that they plotted to overthrow the government.
According to the prosecution, the trio held meetings in Uganda, Kenya, Greece and Switzerland to solicit funding, acquire weapons and organise paramilitary activities.
Prosecutors further allege that Besigye met an alleged Kurdish intelligence operative identified as Andrew Wilson and received US$5,000 to facilitate the transportation of 36 Ugandans to Kisumu, Kenya, for military training, although the recruits were allegedly intercepted and deported before the training commenced.
The State also alleges that Besigye sought to acquire surface-to-air missiles, ricin poison and counterfeit currency, and planned to use drone technology to assassinate President Yoweri Museveni.
The prosecution says it intends to rely on witness testimony, audio and video recordings, social media communications, immigration records and telephone data as evidence during the trial.
The post Andrew Wilson says Kenyan police planted guns in Dr. Besigye arrest appeared first on 1:.
