The spokesperson of the Bugisu Cultural Institution has told the Ankole Times that any attack on their daughter, Mariam Wangadya, who is serving as the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, is an attack on the entire Bugisu region.
The spokesperson of the cultural institution said that as a legal scholar he is very aware that Article 28(3)(a) of the Ugandan Constitution is very clear on the presumption of innocence of all accused persons in criminal matters. And if my brother Stanley Ndawula and his boys at The Investigator News Platform keep writing, and if the IGG finds no merit in the said insider allegations being peddled, how will they compensate for the defamatory writings?
I therefore request the online media platforms, particularly The Investigator, owned by Stanley Ndawula, to respect the rules surrounding such complaints because, as I have said above, it could be empty malice created within office corridors. And if you keep serializing such information and it turns out to be false, don’t you think that would have amounted to serious criminal and libelous writing?
As a cultural institution, we get concerned when an online platform writes to say that she was supposed to become IGG, but because of her conduct she was not given that job. That is too much information and very subjective writing.
The rank of the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission is a coordinate rank with that of the Inspector General of Government, and all are presidential appointees and paid almost the same rates. What are you insinuating then?
Secondly, as a cultural institution, Hon. Mariam Wangadya is our daughter and we can openly account for her conduct. She was well brought up and has served in that commission for over 20 years, right from the time that office was on Buganda Road. The last time I checked, as early as 2000, Mariam was in Human Rights working with the likes of O’Mara Aliro and Margaret Sekajja.
The Umukuka and the entire Bamasaaba are uncomfortable with the malice being peddled against their own daughter. And in coming out to make these statements, we are doing so that those fighting her should know she has a community fully behind her. We shall not allow any malicious writing against her. Anybody who wants to write needs to wait until the IGG disposes of the matter in an appropriate way.
As a cultural institution, we shall shield our people wherever they are, and any attack on one is an attack on the entire community.
Hon. Mariam Wangadya and her family have supported and promoted good governance in Uganda right from the 1980s, when her father was part of the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) blocs in the Bugisu region and President Museveni was the national chairman of the party. Why should anybody planting malice against her want to gloss over the critical roles she has played, Masiga said by telephone from Mbale.
Meanwhile, our reporter also talked to notable Bagisu like the Mufti of Uganda, His Eminence Shaban Mubajje, Deputy Mufti Eastern Uganda Dr. Wandega, and Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) Chairman Bugisu 1980 and former RDC Wanyoto, who said the falsehoods against their daughter should stop and an apology be made.
President Museveni deployed Mariam, and as Bamasaaba we are very comfortable with her leadership at the Uganda Human Rights Commission. We warn anybody fighting her to be careful, as you will be fighting over five million Bamasaaba.
If there are investigations, let them proceed within the standard protocols of investigations. Or is someone saying that since she was supposed to be IGG, there is no fair play during investigations? I don’t think so.
