Government finally releases list of missing persons
Internal Affairs Minister, Gen Jeje Odongo, has finally heeded to a directive by parliament to release the list of missing persons.
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 following the deadly November 18 and 19 deadly protests that were sparked by the arrest of National Unity Platform presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, whereas others threatened to disrupt the January,14 polls.
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The President consequently directed the army to produce a list of those arrested and make their names known to the public and relatives but the same had not been complied with.
On Thursday, the Internal Affairs Minister presented a list of 177 people that he said have been declared as missing by the public.
“Today I am presenting to you a list of 177 clearly identifying the person, the date when the person was arrested, the place where the person was arrested from, the reason why the person was arrested and the case management history,”Odongo said.
The minister told parliament that 43 of these had been arrested for participating in riots whereas 156 were found in possession of military stores and others were apprehended while in meetings planning post-election violence.
“Six persons were released on police bond. ln conclusion, going forward, l would like to inform the house and the general public that a copy of this list is at police headquarters with the office of the Chief Political Commissar. The public is encouraged to check with that office the whereabouts of their missing persons and to get permission to visit them,” he said.
The development comes on the backdrop of a request by the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga who asked MPs to present individual lists of missing persons in their constituencies after government had failed to heed the directive.
“In absence of that list, I want to ask these members who have a list of missing people to produce it here so that we can make the government to account,”Kadaga said on Tuesday.
