Published on 11/04/2025
Legislators on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee have criticised the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) for awarding what they termed as meagre compensation to victims of human rights violations, describing the UGX 5 million typically given as “ridiculous.”
Leading the charge was Bugiri Municipality MP, Asuman Basalirwa, during a meeting on April 7, 2025, to review the UHRC’s Ministerial Policy Statement for the 2025/26 financial year.
“I want to understand why the Commission is no longer awarding substantial compensation to victims of human rights violations. According to your own figures, 16 victims received an average of UGX 30 million each—but the violations include torture, denial of the right to life, and threats to personal security,” said Basalirwa.
He added: “Isn’t this condoning human rights violations? Someone is tortured and receives only UGX 5 million or UGX 7 million. That’s absurd. What prevents the Commission from awarding UGX 100 million or even UGX 200 million?”
Basalirwa was responding to a presentation by UHRC Chairperson Mariam Wangadya, who highlighted the Commission’s performance in the 2024/25 financial year. She revealed that 1,606 complaints had been received from 992 men and 614 women, out of which 95 were deemed admissible. Sixteen cases were disposed of, but the Commission continues to face challenges related to delayed compensation payments from the government agencies held liable.
“Our decisions face delays due to slow compensation payouts,” Wangadya noted. “We plan to engage ministries, departments, and agencies to resolve this. Complainants also struggle to access incidental services—such as death certificates—which are essential in proving violations like the right to life.”
Basalirwa further questioned why UHRC fails to reference precedents from previous cases in determining compensation amounts and why the awards do not include interest to penalize delayed payments.
“There are precedents. So why not award UGX 100 million or more in serious cases? Without interest, violators have no fear. They know that even when they delay compensation, they won’t face financial consequences. This defeats the Commission’s role as a deterrent to rights abuses,” Basalirwa argued.
Wangadya also informed the Committee that the Commission requires an additional UGX 4.8 billion to monitor human rights during the run-up to the 2026 general elections. However, Basalirwa challenged the Commission to account for its activities during the recent Kawempe North by-election.
“You should have used the Kawempe North by-election as a case study,” he said. “Who was deployed, where, and what exactly did they do? I saw the statement you issued, but I want to understand the actual operations and findings.”
Wangadya also told the Committee that in 2024/25, UHRC conducted inspections of 303 places of detention, including 72 prisons, 230 police stations, and one remand home, across 12 regions.
However, MPs questioned the geographical choices in these inspections. Erute South MP Jonathan Odur expressed disappointment that the Commission failed to inspect detention centres in Buganda, despite the region being the epicentre of many alleged violations.
“Abductions, forced disappearances, and military arrests have mostly occurred here in the Central Region,” Odur noted. “Why then did the Commission choose to visit Gulu instead? Why avoid military detention centres in the region where most violations are reported?”
Kibaale Woman MP Noeline Basemera also sought clarity on whether there had been any improvement in the conditions of detainees compared to findings from previous inspections.
“I want to know: based on your visits this financial year, is there any tangible improvement in detention conditions? And if not, what outcomes have these visits yielded?” she asked.
