Africa-Press – Uganda. At least 458 Ugandans are missing from their families and their whereabouts remained unknown, according to records provided by the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party.A copy of a list of missing persons prepared by NUP, which this publication has seen, however contains names of only 243 people.
Party officials who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity owing to sensitivity of the matter, last evening said the number of victims they had registered by last Friday was nearly double the original figure as more relatives filed complaints.
NUP began registering people who have disappeared, most of them its supporters, last November upon petitions by families following the two-day protests in that month when security forces shot dead 54 civilians.President Museveni, who acknowledged the killings sparked off by the arrest of the then presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, said in a televised address that most of those who died were “rioters” and terrorists”. Following the bloody incidents, several parents then approached the party to establish the whereabouts of their loved ones, prompting officials to open a register of missing supporters.NUP claims that security forces abducted the individuals.We could not independently verify if all the people on the NUP list are missing, and if so, whether they are in custody of State security agencies.
Securing their release
“We want to push for the release of these people at all costs because they don’t have any case to answer. We have waited for the government to release the official list of the missing people but they are going around corners and we must take an initiative,” Mr David Lewis Rubongoya, the NUP secretary general, said yesterday.
The alleged disappearances of citizens, which Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga last month said mirrored the ‘dark days’ of past regimes, has raised concerns about the state of human security in the country, chipping away what the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has proclaimed for years as its gain.President Museveni has since said the people presumed to have disappeared were alive and in custody of security forces, but his directive to have them released or charged in court has not been implement three weeks later.
Lt Col Deo Akiiki, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) deputy spokesperson, last evening said they had handed over the list of all the missing people to the Minister of Internal Affairs (Gen Jeje Odongo) to present it in Parliament as Speaker Rebecca Kadaga demanded last week.“We don’t have anything to do with that matter anymore. As you have been told, the minister of Internal Affairs is to handle the matter. He will pronounce himself on the floor of Parliament, but I can’t tell when that will happen,” Lt Col Akiiki said.
A week ago, senior police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is both sensitive and politicised, told this newspaper that the Force declined to publicise the list of incarcerated individuals because the military failed to turn over the suspects to them.There were also concerns, one senior police officer said, that the suspects may be in questionable physical state or missing for which police could not take responsibility since it was not the arresting agency.
Mr Rubongoya said they intend to share its updated list of missing persons, alongside 25 new names of people who the party alleges were killed in the November 18-19 riot but were not among those officially acknowledged, to strengthen its petition to the Office of the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Human Rights in Kampala.
Ms Kadaga, on February 24, ordered the government to table the list of citizens it is holding incommunicado, but Gen Odongo was again a no-show in the House yesterday, prompting the Speaker to permit any MP with particulars of missing persons to produce them in Parliament. NUP last Friday held prayers for the missing people at its head offices in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, and those already charged in court and remanded.
During the event, a number of parents and relatives of the abductees broke down and wailed before rolling cameras, pleading with the government to free their loved ones.Mr Kateregga Mulangira, 80, alleged that security forces abducted his son Jeserwah Kyabaggu a month ago, and he has never been sighted again.
“I don’t know what I did to the government to deserve this kind of torture to my son. I am an old man now and I hope that those in authority will follow my tears to release my son,” he said.Starting tomorrow, this newspaper will serialise tell-all tales by distraught families and relatives about missing members believed to be detained by security officials.
List of some of the missing Ugandans
Name District
Gertrude Kawooya Mpigi Abdul Rashid Nkinga MpigiRonald Mugerwa MpigiBaker Kawooya MpigiVictor Makenya MpigiGodfrey Kisembo aka Buyaaya MpigiEmmanuel Bazira of MpigiFred KijjambiuWilly BogereMuhamad SsekimpiGeorge Kasumba KyoteraJon Bosco Sserunkuma WakisoJohn Mary Birimuye MasakaJunior Kiberu MukonoAbdul Karim Muganga MukonoRamadhan Kaweesa MityanaAli Musisi MityanaMatiya Kibirige MityanaYuda Ssempijja MukonoSula Kiwanuka MukonoJoseph Kyakuwa MukonoMuhammad Nahiru MukonoTwaha Kagimu MukonoIsma Ssenkubuge MukonoStephen Ntulume MukonoMuhammad Kanatta MukonoGaza Kharim MukonoMuhammed Mutebi MukonoMusa Male MukonoSowedi Lwanga MukonoJolly Tukamushaba RukigaShafik Nyombi KyoteraVincent Muwonge KyoteraJohn Kiwanuka KyoteraFarouk Mukapa KyoteraJavira LuyombyaMahad Mukasa KyoteraFahad Kasinga KyoteraBarrack Kyazze KyoteraSulait Kyambadde KyoteraEmmanuel Ssegirinya KyoteraIvan Kawenja KyoteraFrank Lusembo KyoteraDerrick Ssebugenyi KyoteraMahad Kyakuwa KyoteraGeorge Kasumba KyoteraMuhammad Maanya KampalaJoshua Muwanga KampalaUmar Wasswa KampalaRamadhan Muyanga KampalaBrian Ainomugisha MbararaAmos Tumwine MbararaJoweria Kyanzi KampalaCharles Kyomuhendo KampalaHassan SsewankamboDamian Kyagaba KampalaYusuf Ssempebwa KampalaAlex Ssemogerere KampalaJamilah KansiimeJoel Tegulya KyoomaJoseph Baguma KampalaJamilu WasikaSharif Ntege KampalaMiggade Kassim EntebbeAshraf Nsubuga WakisoMuhammad SSekimpi MpigiHamidu Ssentumbwe MityanaMuhammad KatanaAkram Zziwa EntebbeJoseph Katongole MpigiUmar Munaabi KampalaJohn Ddamulira KampalaMichael SsemudduCyrus Arinaitwe KampalaChristopher Bunjo KampalaAlex Kiyemba KampalaJulius Buwembo EntebbeEmmanuel Katongole WakisoTabule Ssekitoleko KampalaAsherure RaymondJames Katabazi EntebbeDaniel Kibuuka KampalaIsmail Kigozi KalunguSylvia Namazzi KalunguJack Tumwine SsembabuleSharifah NkaluboJohn Baptist Kyazze KampalaMartin Ssemogerere KampalaPeter Matovu EntebbeIan Enock MutesasiraJude SsemandaShafiq KakoozaIsaac Opiyo KampalaMark Muwonge KityoHanningon KasiryeKenneth Kusasira KampalaEvidence Agaba KampalaMartin JomweGeofrey Alla Katumba EntebbeEmmanuel Mukasa EntebbeDickens Omulongo Kato EntebbeEdward Sserukenya WakisoGordon Byenkya WakisoSteven Mukasa KampalaDan Kibuuka KampalaVincent Kauki WakisoMoses Kibirango EntebbeSula Muguluma MukonoPius Mwanje KampalaNicholas Ssempala KampalaJamada Mayega KampalaTimothy Muwonge KampalaIvan Mukwana MbaleBen Kuloba MbaleAbdul Masaba MbaleEddy Kisasa MbaleBrian Makuvuya KampalaBen Kuloba MbaleFred Nkurunziza KyankwanziJames Lubowa WakisoJulius Kayiwa EntebbeJamiru Kigozi EntebbeShamim Majweega SsembabuleSulaiman Kyambadde KyoteraAndrew Kiwanuka KyoteraHerbert Maganda KyoteraRichard Ssonko WakisoDaudi Niwabiine KampalaMuhammad SsemakulaSteven Lule WakisoObed Tugume KampalaAshraf Kigozi KampalaAbdubaker Ashraf EntebbeAbdul FattaNampewa HafiswaDavis KabuyeDickson KatambaDeo KamanyaFrank Nuwaba WakisoJunior Mujirizi KampalaFrancis Jimmy Nsubuga KampalaIbrahim Kakembo KampalaFredrick Kisawuzi MukonoTom Ddumba MukonoIbrahim Jamwa KampalaRonald Higenyi WakisoBob Franscis Naijuka KampalaSunday Mugema KampalaSulaiti Wasswa KampalaJohn Mary Babiiha KampalaDeo Ssekiziyivu KampalaIvan Mere JinjaRoger Waiswa JinjaOsbert YamurebireMark Erick Wamala KampalaMuhammad Kintu KampalaJoseph Ssenfuka GombaJonathan KitayimbwaJosephat KigoonyaNaomi NamudduYusuf MutebiAdam KizitoIbrahim TumusiimeIsmail LwangaJoseph Augustine KawooyaJoel SsentumbweHilary Charles MutyabaVictory AinomugishaHassan KiyembaYusuf LumalaSeresio KyambaddeBrian SsegujjaHerbert KayindaSimon Peter TwineTadeo Kagoro MasindiGeorge Franklin KisawuziAbdul Karim LwangaBenedict SsemogerereJoseph KyamageroConrad KatoDavid KimbugweFranscis KayembaHenry SSesangaJames MutumbaMichael LubwamaJoel SenkumiFahad KizzaRonald NamaraKarim TwaibDanstan BunjoDominic SsempaAli Al-saifCharles MuagangaFriday KakuruChrysostom Bahwa KampalaGerald LuyombyaHosea SSimbwaFahim SsebwaatoJunior Rogers KazibweMozses BarungiBbosa WasswaJohn K MugabiCeaser Julius TekkoVincent MawagaliRichard Bill KyeyuneGodwin LubegaDeogratius KiizzaIsaac SsempebwaAmon BaziraHumfrey SsebyalaKamya Sheldomn Saddam KasiryeBlasto TurigyeSimon Peter MubiruJulian NamattaSpencer AkanyijukaAshton KisituJoseph Paul KawangaMartin TumusiimeFrancis SemutoDeus KatumbaHenry NgobiIssa Ssebyala
