Former Justice Minister Martha Karua on Tuesday, December 2, 2024, accompanied detained Ugandan veteran opposition leader Kizza Besigye to a court case before the General Court Martial in Makindye- Kampala.

Karua is expected to lead a battery of at least 50 lawyers representing the four-time Uganda presidential candidate who was arrested in Kenya while attending a book launch of Karua on November 16, 2024.

During the dramatic arrest, Besigye’s wife Winnie Byanyima said that his husband was arrested and bundled into a car with Ugandan intelligence officers who drove overnight through the Busia border.

“Four of the men bundled him and his partner in a car and drove them the whole night towards the border of Uganda. They crossed into Uganda without stopping. It was clearly a well-planned operation,” Byanyima said.

Adding: “Somewhere towards Nakuru, the four men who abducted them forgot and started talking in our language so Kizza said I wish you told us we spoke the same language, and that’s how they crossed them into Uganda to the military jail.”

Karua as lead counsel

Karua travelled to Uganda on Sunday, December 1, 2024, to finalise preparations for the case in which Besigye and his counterpart Obeid Lutale have been charged with the possession of eight rounds of ammunition at an apartment in the Nairobi’s Riverside area.

Karua was elected to lead the defence team, taking over from Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago who said that he would attach her to his law firm as a requirement to practice law in Uganda.

“The decision we have taken is to assemble a very big team of lawyers from Kenya and Uganda. So far 50 lawyers have committed to be with us on that day and are ready to take on the state and provide any other legal services required in the case. The head of this legal team is Martha Karua. From today, she is the head of the legal team. I am no longer the lead counsel in this matter,” Lukwago said on November 25, 2024.

The Ugandan law demands that for a lawyer to practice in their country, he or she must be from a Commonwealth country, must obtain a temporary practising certificate and must be attached to a local law firm.

On Sunday, December 1, 2024, Karua said she was expecting to be cleared in time to represent her client.

“I am hopeful of getting the license and already in Kampala,” Karua stated.