Musasizi Kifefe, the younger brother of Forum for Democratic Change president Kiiza Besigye is dead.
Kifefe, who was on trial for terrorism, treason, murder and illegal possession of firearms, was accused by the Government of being a member of the shadowy rebel group, the People's Redemption Army. His family says he passed away early this afternoon at the Intensive Care Unit in Mulago where he was admitted on Sunday after he complained that he had trouble breathing.
Ingrid Turinawe, an FDC Party official who was in Mulago Hospital when Kifefe passed away, says he died of multiple organ failure. His body has been taken to Mulago Hospital mortuary for a postmortem.
Musasizi Kifefe was first hospitalized in Mulago in May where he was diagnosed with leukemia. He had taken ill while in detention in Nyamushekyera Prison in Bushenyi. He told journalists in Bushenyi that his health began to deteriorate when he and other People's Redemption Army suspects were beaten up by security operatives at the High Court in Kampala in March this year.
After several petitions by his lawyers and family members, he was released on bail and transferred to Mulago Hospital.
Musasizi Kifefe had been on remand for four years. He and his brother Kiiza Besigye were accused of leading the People's Redemption Army in a failed coup attempt against President Yoweri Museveni's government.
Three of his sisters are living abroad as political exiles. They fled the country in 2001 fearing prosecution and it is not clear if they will return home for their brother's burial. One of the sisters, Margaret Kifefe, is also on government's list of rebel suspects.
Frank Atukunda, a man who spent four years in jail with Kifefe, describes him as very friendly, outgoing and enterprising.
