Ejang told MPs that Wangadya sought a Shs5 million monthly honorarium for tribunal sittings between August 2025 and February 2026. She said she initially opposed the payment because commissioners were full-time officials already receiving salaries, but the honorarium was nevertheless paid to Wangadya alone; other commissioners did not receive the payment.
Former Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Secretary and Accounting Officer Margaret Lucy Ejang has linked the Commission’s case backlog to changes in the handling of complaints introduced under former Chairperson Mariam Wangadya.
Ejang was appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) on Friday as MPs investigated financial and administrative issues raised in the Auditor General’s report. The committee, chaired by Muwada Nkunyingi, summoned Ejang to explain some findings recorded during her tenure as accounting officer, especially queries in the Auditor General’s report 2024/2025.
The report under review found that 1,154 cases had been carried forward to the UHRC tribunal, but only 61, representing 5.3 percent, had been resolved, while 563 cases, or 52 percent, had remained pending for more than 10 years.
Ejang told MPs that the backlog was partly a result of changes made under Wangadya, who she said directed that complaints of illegal detention would warrant investigations where complainants had been detained for more than seven days, leaving regional officers handling huge numbers of cases.
Ejang recommended a forensic audit of the backlog to establish how the cases accumulated, how they were handled and whether changes in the Commission’s procedures contributed to the delays. The case backlog came under scrutiny alongside concerns over UHRC’s financial management.
Ejang told the committee that the Commission received an additional Shs10.4 billion for various activities, including human rights education, complaints management, monitoring and inspections, research and tribunal sittings.
However, she said the bulk of the money was absorbed by administrative and capital expenditure. According to Ejang, Shs2 billion was allocated for salary enhancement for the chairperson, commissioners and staff, while about Shs6 billion went to capital development, leaving roughly Shs2 billion for the Commission’s other activities.
She also disclosed disputes over foreign travel and allowances, saying some commissioners complained that they were being excluded from foreign trips.
Ejang said the travel budget was structured under the chairperson’s office, giving Wangadya discretion over who travelled and for what activities.
She further told MPs that Wangadya sought a Shs5 million monthly honorarium for tribunal sittings between August 2025 and February 2026.
Ejang said she initially opposed the payment because commissioners were full-time officials already receiving salaries. She said the honorarium was nevertheless paid to Wangadya alone, while other commissioners did not receive the payment.
The former accounting officer said the Shs5 million payment had not been budgeted for and was instead drawn from the general allowances budget line.
She also said commissioners received Shs1.2 million each as welfare support, including for refreshments, although the expenditure was not specifically provided for in the budget.
Ejang further told COSASE that some funds budgeted for activities under the chairperson’s office were directed to the account of the chairperson’s personal assistant. She said the money was not personal allowances for Wangadya but funds for Commission activities, including stakeholder engagements, which had been budgeted under the chairperson’s office as a cost centre.
The first personal assistant, Pauline Nansamba Mutumba, was later promoted, after which Ejang said payments were made to the account of another personal assistant, Nabete Mukunyu. Ejang said the arrangement followed a resolution of the Commission, with all commissioners present.
However, she said minutes containing the resolution, as well as those relating to the 5-million-shilling honorarium wasn’t signed by the chairperson and were repeatedly deferred during subsequent meetings.
The committee is also investigating Shs70.41 million which the Auditor General found had not been implemented by UHRC but was erroneously reported as completed in the Commission’s performance reports.
Current UHRC officials told COSASE that the money had been used to purchase furniture but reportedly failed to provide documentary evidence to substantiate the expenditure. COSASE said Ejang’s evidence would help the committee establish how the funds were utilised and understand the circumstances surrounding the financial and performance-reporting discrepancies.
The committee is expected to continue interfacing with UHRC officials next week on management, accountability, the case backlog and service delivery-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
