The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Tribunal sitting in Mbarara City has awarded a total of Shs160 million in compensation to victims of human rights violations.
In the first ruling delivered by the Commission Chairperson, Hon. Mariam Wangadya, the Tribunal awarded Shs80 million to Visensio Mucunguzi, a farmer from Rwenkuriju B Village in Mitooma District, following the killing of his son, Serestino Tumwijukye.
Tumwijukye, then a bodaboda rider at Omukabanda Trading Centre, was shot dead on March 1, 2015, by Sgt. Bagambireryo Apulinali, the then Officer-in-Charge of Kashongororo Police Post.
“Sgt. Bagambireryo shot three times in the direction of a bodaboda stage in a trading centre at around 8:00 pm. Many cyclists were at the stage waiting for passengers. As a trained police officer, and 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 be. 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, knowing he had killed a person,” Hon. Wangadya observed.
The Tribunal also relied on a letter from the then Mitooma District Police Commander, ASP Adam Kakaire Mulondo, to the UHRC Mbarara Regional Office, confirming that a case of murder was opened against Sgt. Bagambireryo and that he had been remanded to Bushenyi Government Prison.
“The fact that Sgt. Bagambireryo’s bosses in police preferred a charge of murder 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 a total of Shs80 million in this case. Of this, Shs5 million will go to the late Tumwijukye’s mother, Leticia Birungi, and another Shs5 million to his widow, Scovia Twikyirize. The remaining Shs70 million will be managed by Mr. Mucunguzi for the benefit of Tumwijukye’s two children, Isaiah Taremwa and Victor Nabasa.
In the second decision, read by Commission Member Hon. Shifrah Lukwago on behalf of the panel, the Tribunal awarded another Shs80 million to Ms. Peruth Abigaba, a widow, following the death 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 earlier engaged in a fight with the then LC1 Chairperson, Samuel Kabaranzi. At police, Muhoozi agreed to compensate Kabaranzi with Shs150,000, and by October 12, 2013, he had already paid Shs100,000 when he was arrested and detained.
On October 14, 2013, Muhoozi’s friend, David Asiimwe Mweebe, informed Ms. Abigaba that her husband had died in the police cell. His body was later delivered to their home by a vehicle from Sheema Police Station.
In the same sitting, the Tribunal dismissed two other complaints of alleged human rights violations after the complainants failed to prove their claims.
The Chairperson and three members of the Commission are holding week-long sessions at the UHRC Mbarara Regional Office, handling a total of 19 complaints. The other members of the Tribunal are Hon. Simeo Nsubuga and Jackie Atuhaire Rwabukurukuru.
Under Article 53 of the Constitution, the Uganda Human Rights Commission has powers to hear and determine complaints of human rights violations and to provide appropriate redress, including compensation to victims.
