Kampala, Uganda | Three members of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) have gone on record declaring war against their boss, the Chairperson Hon. Mariam Wangadya.
In turn, the Chairperson gave an interview highlighting the difficulty with which she has been working with the said Members and the fact that they are being funded by a section of MPs whom she had reported to the President over corruption.
The result was a viral video which circulated on Saturday with a section of the members of the public blowing it out of proportion. Below we reveal to you the untold story of the current wave at the UHRC.
In an interview with the media on Friday (3rd July 2026), Hon. Wangadya revealed how she received pointers of a difficult tenure at the commencement of her term of office in 2021, but she has been soldiering on until it became unbearable in the past six months of this year.
“The day I went to parliament for vetting as a nominee for this position as the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, I was escorted out by two honourable members of parliament. One of them told me, ‘My dear, you are in very big trouble. One of the Members you are to work with will do everything to hurt you and fail you in your work. You will be scandalised, bullied, disrespected on a daily basis. You will be destroyed. Sadly, this has come to pass,” she said.
She revealed that her first physical contact with the said Member of the Commission made it clear to her that she was in a tough place when the Commissioner told her that it was him/her who ousted the woman MP Irene Muloni from cabinet by writing a report on her which was submitted to the President and within weeks, Muloni ceased to be the Energy Minister.
“I had never in my work experience gone through anything like this. This Commissioner constantly reminded me that there were 8 files against me at ISO and CMI. I kept calm knowing that I am clean. My conduct or loyalty to my country had never been under scrutiny since I joined Government service in 1996. I was constantly reminded that I was an outsider, simply because I was not born in Western Uganda and that I would not last the six years as Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission,” the Chairperson said.
She revealed that the members have been sponsoring stories claiming that she is under investigation which she categorically dismissed as “a smear campaign orchestrated by three Members of the Commission backed by the corrupt MPs whom she reported to the President for soliciting bribes from her.” She said the said MPs have used the Members of the Commission to intimidate and scandalise her every single day.
“This vendetta has a strong funder behind it. On their own, these members of the Commission would not have been able to mobilise this scale of media abuse directed at me daily. One of the MPs I testified against in court is heavily backing this assault on me. This person is aided by mainly a certain media house whose attitude is heavily laced with ethnic hatred. Though His Excellency the president magnanimously forgave those MPs, which I welcomed, they on their part have never “forgiven me”. I say forgiven in inverted commas because I don’t believe I did anything wrong,” she said.
“They think I was unfair to them. They are determined to do anything to me and my family. At this juncture I wish to appeal to the Director of Public Prosecutions. I was the complainant in that case. I know the law gives you the authority to close prosecution without any explanation. You have no legal obligation to explain to me why you closed that prosecution. I had testified in court. I was ready to be cross examined. You closed that case. I wish to appeal to you to reopen that prosecution so that my truthfulness or lies can be tested on cross examination. If indeed what I said to the president or police are lies, I am ready to be cross examined,” she said.
She revealed that if the DPP cannot reopen the case, then he should allow her present the audio recording to the court of public opinion so that everyone can know the cause of the ongoing hatred and vitriol against her.
In the interview, the Chairperson used the opportunity to send a message to the president of Uganda, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni about the appointment of the leadership of the Uganda Human Rights Commission. She indicated that the Commission holds the widest mandate of promoting and protecting the Rights of Ugandans in the Bill of Rights. This means that the Commission should not only be adequately resourced but also left in charge of credible and competent individuals as per the law. She noted, however, with dissatisfaction, that some of the appointed Members of the Commission are not as credible as the office demands.
“The mandate of the Uganda Human Rights Commission is very clear in the Constitution. Chapter 4, the largest chapter, the Bill of Rights. Article 51 says that the Chairperson and Members shall be people of high moral standard and proven integrity. How I wish the authority had taken these constitutional provisions seriously.”
The Chairperson informed the media that she has been a public servant for 30 years with 8 years a Deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG) and Acting IGG during which she has maintained a credible record, turning down bribes from prominent individuals and upholding the principle of integrity.
“You have no idea, the huge chunks of money I rejected as Deputy IGG to kill prosecutions, end prosecutions, to drop appeals or lift interdictions. How much money powerful politicians offered me to commence investigations and prosecutions against their potential competitors so as to take them out of the race. If I was the corrupt person which CBS talks about every day, which Observer writes about every day, I would be very rich. I wouldn’t have to steal non-existent money at the Uganda Human Rights Commission,” she said.
She remarked that the Commission has a limited budget and that even if she was a thief, there is nothing to steal there.
“Even if I was a thief, which I am not, there is no money to steal at the Uganda Human Rights Commission. I want to remind you and the country that I was Deputy IGG for eight years starting August 2013-August 2021. For half a year during that tenure, I was the acting IGG. If I was the kind of person that your media houses have depicted me to be, I would be a very wealthy woman today.”
The Chairperson urged the media to remain professional and factual and urged them to verify these allegations of investigations with the office of the IGG to get clarity noting that having served in that very office, she knows its processes.
