The Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee Janepher Nantume
Egunyu has said she will meet the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga over
lack of funds to investigate electoral violence.
Last week, the committee postponed investigations into cases of
electoral violence due to lack of funding. Kadaga had directed the committee to
take stock of the human rights violations that marred the electoral
process.
As part of the investigations, the committee had planned to
interact with Presidential candidates, security agencies including the police
and the army as well as the victims.
According to Egunyu, she now plans to meet Kadaga and the Clerk to
Parliament Jane Kibirige on the funding.
“We have been limited by funds, and we cannot go to the field to
interact with victims because we do not have the money. We are told there is no
money for committee and fieldwork” Egunyu said.
During plenary on Wednesday, Kadaga asked the committee to
expedite their work since incidents of human rights violations are still going
on.
Kadaga was responding to a matter of National Importance
raised by the Opposition Whip Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda who said that he wanted
to give evidence before the committee but they could not be traced.
She also said that she had received a petition from Uganda Young
Democrats (UYD) over continued rights violations by security. Kadaga also
forwarded the petition to the Human Rights Committee for scrutiny.
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Ssemujju told MPs that journalists were brutalized by security personnel
as they covered the National Unity Platform (NUP) Presidential candidate Robert
Kyagulanyi Ssentamu who was delivering a petition to the United Nations Human
Rights.
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In an earlier interview with URN, Hellen Kaweesa, the Acting Director
of Corporate and Public Affairs of Parliament said that budget cuts have
affected most departments of Parliament because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She
says that some activities including committee work have been halted.
