The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A review of 100 files at the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) by the Auditor General has revealed delays of more than one year, with some complaints going up to 10 years before the completion of investigations. The revelation is carried in the latest Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2023/2024.
In the report, Auditor General, Edward Akol, queries case backlogs in the commission noting that for the financial year, UHRC was able to conclusively investigate 531 complaints out of a total of 917, representing a 60% performance.
“A review of 100 files revealed delays of more than one year. The Commission had not started the investigation of 90 out of 681 cases (13.2%) for over five (5) years. I analyzed the disposal of complaints by the UHRC tribunal in the financial year 2023/2024 and noted that out of 1,325 cases brought forward, only 171 (13%) cases were closed,” reads part of the audit report.
Akol noted that files spent an average of four years at the tribunal between the first hearing and the last tribunal decision, and more than 97% of the total cases pending at the tribunal level were six years old or more. The Auditor General has consistently queried the Human Rights Commission (UHRC) over case backlog. In the previous financial year 2022/2023, the former Auditor General, John Muwanga highlighted a backlog of 1,587 complaints.
Consequently, Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE), chaired by Busiro East MP, Medard Lubega Sseggona, questioned the Commission’s explanation of a lack of funds for paying complainants’ and witnesses’ transport refunds as the reason for the backlog.
This followed a submission by Ida Nakiganda, the Director of Complaints, Investigations and Legal Services, who explained that the Commission’s inability to hear the cases was due to insufficient funds to facilitate Commissioners’ travel and compensate witnesses summoned to Kampala.
The committee then recommended that the Commission prioritize disposing of cases within Kampala during budget shortfalls, where travel costs are minimized. However, Nakiganda noted that even local cases incur significant costs due to the need for transport refunds.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) was established under the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. The decision to establish a permanent body to monitor the human rights situation in the country was in recognition of Uganda’s violent and turbulent history that had been characterized by arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, torture and brutal repression with impunity on the part of security organs during the pre and post-independence era.
Article 52 (1) of the Uganda Constitution outlines the core function of the Commission to investigate, at its own initiative or upon receiving a complaint from an individual or group of the violation of any human right.
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