The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Tribunal sitting in Mbarara City has awarded a total of Shs160m in damages to victims of human rights violations.
In the first decision read by the Chairperson, Mariam Wangadya, the Tribunal awarded Shs80m to Mr. Visensio Mucunguzi, a farmer from Rwenkuriju B Village in Mitooma District, who lost his son, Serestino Tumwijukye, then a boda boda rider at Omukabanda trading center.
The Commission heard that Tumwijukye was shot dead by the then Officer-in-Charge of Kashongororo Police Post, Sgt. Bagambireryo Apulinali, on March 1, 2015.
“Sgt. Bagambireryo shot three times in the direction of a boda boda stage in a trading center. From the evidence of Mucunguzi, Nuwabiine and Turigye, this was a busy time—8:00pm. Many cyclists were at the stage waiting for passengers. As a trained Police Officer, moreover one in charge of the area police post, he must have known that the bullets he fired in that direction would most probably hit and kill a person, regardless of who the victim would have been. The victim of the day turned out to be Tumwijukye. He fired three times in the same direction and after the third bullet hit its target, he fled. He knew he had killed a person,” Wangadya stated.
The Tribunal also relied on a letter from the then Mitooma District Police Commander, ASP Adam Kakaire Mulondo, to the UHRC Mbarara Regional Office, in which he confirmed that a murder case was opened against Sgt. Bagambireryo and that he was remanded to Bushenyi Government Prison.
“The fact that Sgt. Bagambireryo’s bosses in police preferred murder charges against him, as opposed to manslaughter, shows that they too in their assessment believed he had intentionally killed Tumwijukye,” the Tribunal ruled.
The Tribunal directed government to pay Shs80m: Shs5m each to Tumwijukye’s mother, Leticia Birungi, and his wife, Scovia Twikyirize. The remaining Shs70m is to be managed by Mr. Mucunguzi for the benefit of the two children, Isaiah Taremwa and Victor Nabasa.
In the second decision, read by member of the commission Shifrah Lukwago on behalf of the panel, the Tribunal awarded another Shs80m to a widow, Peruth Abigaba, following the killing of her husband, Bernard Muhoozi, in a police cell at Kishozi Police Post.
The tribunal heard that Muhoozi, a former trader at Kibutana Cell in Sheema Town Council, had engaged in a fight with Samuel Kabaranzi, the then area LC1 chairman. At police, Muhoozi agreed to compensate Kabaranzi with Shs150,000. On October 12, 2013, he had taken Shs100,000 of the agreed amount when he was arrested and detained.
“On October 14, 2013, David Asiimwe Mweebe, Muhoozi’s friend, informed her (Abigaba) that her husband had died in the cell. Muhoozi’s body was delivered to her home by a vehicle belonging to Sheema Police Station,” the Commission heard.
The Tribunal also dismissed two complaints of human rights violations after the complainants failed to prove their respective claims.
The Chairperson and three other members of the Commission are conducting sessions at the Mbarara Regional Office, handling a total of 19 complaints throughout the week. Other members of the Tribunal include Simeo Nsubuga and Jacklet Atuhaire Rwabukurukuru.
The UHRC, under Article 53 of the Constitution, has the power to hear and determine complaints of human rights violations and offer appropriate redress.