Ms Mariam Fauzat Wangadya, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Boss, has lashed out at the National Unity Platform (NUP) for providing the Commission with false information.
Wangadya said that the list of the missing persons was a ‘mere drama by NUP’ yet a lot of resources were diverted to investigate all these cases.
“Our entire budget was diverted looking for honestly what I considered non-existent persons or some who exist actually today live in foreign countries. Others were out on bail for some serious crimes like terrorism, vandalisation of electric wires, so when we reached them, they were so surprised that they appeared on the list of missing people. In my conclusion, none of these people are genuinely missing. From the interactions we have done with these people, none of those people provided for us is missing,” said Wangadya.
Meanwhile, Wangadya has asked Parliament to provide an additional Sh3.756b to enhance salary of its staff, saying she is only given Sh600,000 for fuel each month, translating to only Sh20,000 per daily which she says is too low.
“As chairperson of a constitutional body, my salary is two thirds of that salary of deputy head of that constitutional body (Inspectorate of Government) and people from my home area were like, now you have been promoted, we expect something. I am getting fuel of Shs20,000 per day which is Shs600,000 per month,” asserted Wangadya.
The Commission is also seeking for Sh1b to purchase 5 vehicles to support the inspection of detention facilities, investigation of cases and extra Sh1.5b to buy 3 vans to sensitize Ugandans on human rights.