{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Trusted News Uganda","provider_url":"https:\/\/trustednewsug.com","author_name":"Admin","author_url":"https:\/\/trustednewsug.com\/index.php\/author\/kabuye\/","title":"When The Prime Suspect Becomes The State Witness - Trusted News Uganda","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"NPd5qPoNc4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/trustednewsug.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/22\/when-the-prime-suspect-becomes-the-state-witness\/\">When The Prime Suspect Becomes The State Witness<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/trustednewsug.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/22\/when-the-prime-suspect-becomes-the-state-witness\/embed\/#?secret=NPd5qPoNc4\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;When The Prime Suspect Becomes The State Witness&#8221; &#8212; Trusted News Uganda\" data-secret=\"NPd5qPoNc4\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/trustednewsug.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/trustednewsug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG-20260822-WA0260.jpg","thumbnail_width":940,"thumbnail_height":788,"description":"By Lawrence Mayanja&nbsp; I have taken a long pause before writing this. I wanted to listen. Then listen again. Digest what I heard. Read the reports. And listen again. Because sometimes, before we speak, we must first ask ourselves difficult questions. One of the most striking things in the testimony attributed to state witness Andrew Wilson Orlando is the claim that he himself initiated, proposed, facilitated or financed some of the ideas and activities he now says were connected to Dr. Kizza Besigye and others. If that account is accurate, then an ordinary citizen is entitled to ask: How does the person who allegedly originates and facilitates a plan eventually become the key witness against the very people he says he introduced to that plan? That is not a conclusion of guilt or innocence. It is simply a question. Imagine this: A man allegedly approaches another person and proposes a dangerous plan. He allegedly helps facilitate meetings, training, travel or other activities connected to that plan. Then, when the matter reaches court, the same man becomes a principal witness for the prosecution against the people he says he recruited or influenced. At the very least, shouldn&#8217;t such testimony be subjected to the most rigorous scrutiny? Lawrence Mayanja And then some allegations leave many ordinary Ugandans asking even more fundamental questions. For example, if the allegation is that Dr Kizza Besigye wanted to blow up a restaurant such as Caf\u00e9 Javas, what political objective was supposedly going to be achieved by destroying a restaurant? This makes everyone who knows Kizza Besigye laugh, including President Yoweri Museveni. Museveni knows Kizza Besigye better than most of us. He trusted him with his body as his personal doctor for years.&nbsp; I am not a lawyer. I am simply a journalist who has followed court proceedings and, at different points, experienced the justice system from the perspective of a witness and complainant. And that is why I keep imagining what a rigorous cross-examination of such testimony might look like. What questions would more than 30 defence lawyers ask? What contradictions would they test? What evidence would they demand? What financial records, communications, travel documents, phone records or other independent evidence would they put before the court? Because testimony should not become truth merely because it is spoken inside a courtroom. It must withstand scrutiny. And this is where my concern becomes even deeper. When the identity of witnesses is heavily protected, when lawyers representing the accused face extraordinary obstacles, when some defence lawyers cannot participate freely, when media access to proceedings is restricted, and when the public cannot easily observe or scrutinise what is happening in court, how does an ordinary citizen gain confidence that justice is being done? Justice should not only be done. Justice must also be seen to be done. A courtroom should not become a place where truth is hidden from the very public whose name justice is supposedly being served. And so I return to one fundamental question: If, according to his own testimony, Orlando initiated, facilitated or financed the activities he now describes, what does that make him in the story he is telling the court? Shouldn&#8217;t that question be thoroughly examined? And if Dr. Kizza Besigye is being tried in absentia, without being physically present to personally hear, challenge and respond to every allegation against him, then another question becomes unavoidable: Who speaks for the accused when the accused cannot speak for himself? These are not questions that should frighten us. They are questions that should strengthen justice. Because whether one supports Besigye, opposes him, supports President Museveni, opposes him, or simply considers oneself an ordinary Ugandan, the principle is bigger than any individual politician. Today it may be Besigye. Tomorrow it could be someone else. When justice becomes selective, eventually nobody is completely safe from injustice. And that is why we must keep asking questions. Not because we have already decided who is guilty. Not because we have already decided who is innocent. But because truth has nothing to fear from honest questions. The Bible reminds us: \u201cThe first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.\u201d \u2014 Proverbs 18:17 That verse speaks powerfully to this moment. One side presents its story. The other side must have a genuine opportunity to challenge it. Because when one side speaks and the other is silenced, we may have a verdict, but have we truly had justice? I believe God is watching. Not from the courtroom gallery. Not from the prosecution bench. Not from the defence table. But from the highest court of all. The court of Heaven. Human judges can make decisions. Governments can exercise power. Witnesses can speak. Lawyers can argue. And courts can deliver judgments. But ultimately, God remains the Judge of all judges. And His judgment cannot be appealed. So, before we celebrate a conviction or condemn an accused person, perhaps we should pause and ask: Have we really heard the whole truth? Because truth may be delayed, but it cannot be permanently buried. And darkness may hide things from human eyes\u2014 but it cannot hide anything from God. The writer is an investigative Journalist, Political Activist and Human Rights Defender lawmayanja@yahoo.com &nbsp;"}