Internal Affairs Minister will release list of missing persons- Police

Police have said the list of missing persons will be released by the Internal Affairs Minister to Parliament any time from now.

A few weeks ago, in his address to the nation, President Museveni said no person was missing but had rather been arrested by security organs and directed the army to produce a list of those arrested and make their names known to the public and relatives.

However, despite an order for security to release the list to members of the public, for over three weeks, nothing has been released.

On Monday, the Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga was tasked to explain the delay in releasing the list to members of the public but he noted that following a directive by the Speaker of Parliament, the Internal Affairs Minister would soon make the list public.

“That instruction (from Speaker Kadaga) still stands and towards the end of last week, the minister met the various service chiefs and this list was forwarded to him. He will present it before parliament,”Enanga responded to a question from journalists.

“I can’t usurp the powers of the Internal Affairs Minister because he has the list  and he will present it before parliament.”

During his address to the country, the president admitted the missing persons had been arrested by operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and the UPDF commando unit for participating in the November 18 and 19 protests as well as for threatening violence during the January,14 polls.

Consequently, he directed that the list be made public and a few weeks ago, the UPDF said the list had been handed over to the police leadership.

When asked why the Police had taken long to release the list, Enanga insisted that they could not usurp the powers of their superiors over the matter.

“It now remains in the hands of the minister and the speaker of parliament because they are superiors.”

When asked on reports that the police failed to agree with the army on the number, identity and condition of the missing persons and that this has delayed the release of the list, the police spokesperson said all this would be answered by the Internal Affairs Minister.

“The list mentions the number of people arrested, those charged and on remand plus those who were released. The minister will give all those details to parliament.”

The development comes as relatives to the missing persons continue to express concern over the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Many have expressed fear that the condition of their loved ones is not good as they suspect that they could have been tortured during and after arrest.