Former Secretary and Accounting Officer of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Ms Margaret Lucy Ejang, has accused the commission of financial irregularities, internal wrangles and intimidation, saying her efforts to enforce financial controls put her at odds with the commission chairperson, Ms Mariam Wangadya.
Ms Ejang, who served at the commission for 24 years before her contract was terminated in March this year, made the allegations while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) on August 21.
She described the current commission as the worst during her 24-year tenure, alleging that she was subjected to pressure and humiliation whenever she questioned financial requests from the chairperson.
Ms Wangadya has previously appeared before the same committee, denied wrongdoing and suggested that she was being witch-hunted.
Ms Ejang was summoned to respond to queries raised in the Auditor General’s 2025 report, including the alleged diversion of Shs70.4 million meant for works at the commission to purchase furniture.
She appeared alone after requesting not to attend with other commission officials, citing security concerns and alleged intimidation.
She had initially been scheduled to appear with other commission officials on August 24 after the committee summoned them during its interaction with UHRC officials on August 17.
Ms Ejang told MPs that the 2024/25 financial year was particularly difficult because her residence in Mukono District was burnt under unclear circumstances, forcing her to take a month-long leave.
‘When I took leave, I found a lot of trouble in the office and it was arising from foreign travels,’ Ms Ejang said.
She said tensions arose after Ms Wangadya travelled abroad with two commissioners, Mr Crispin Kaheru and Director Pauline Nansamba, prompting other commissioners to question why they were repeatedly excluded despite a Shs280 million budget for foreign travel.
Ms Ejang also accused the chairperson of making financial demands that she considered difficult to justify.
‘The demand of the chairperson was so much for me that I queried most of her requisitions. The difficult time for me was when she demanded for honoraria for tribunals and my argument was that members of the commission are full-time members and there is no way we are going to pay tribunal because they are paid a salary,’ she said.
Ms Ejang said she was eventually pressured to approve a monthly Shs5 million allowance to Ms Wangadya for tribunal work, despite the payment not being provided for in the budget.
She said the allowance was not being paid to other commission members.
‘When I guided that it’s not possible, the chairperson petitioned the commission to help her because the director of finance and I were humiliating her by questioning any requisition that would come from her office,’ she said.
Ms Ejang further told the committee that the commission passed a resolution requiring funds budgeted for activities under the chairperson’s office to be paid quarterly into the account of the chairperson’s personal assistant.
‘I want to be on record that for that particular meeting where the resolution was made to put money on the personal assistant account and another meeting where a resolution was made to pay, she smartly refused to sign the minutes,’ she said.
She said Ms Wangadya did not issue written instructions to implement the resolutions, arguing that decisions of the commission were sufficient authority.
‘She would not write and, in fact, she took advantage of the commission where faulty decisions are made and I request for a write-up, she would outrightly say a commission decision is adequate and there is no need for her to write,’ Ms Ejang said.
She also claimed that some of her responsibilities were subsequently shared among other officials, including the commission planner and the Director of Complaints, Investigations and Legal Services.
Ms Ejang further alleged that some complaints handled by the commission were closed on instructions from the chairperson instead of being subjected to the appropriate procedures.
‘Majority of the files have been closed but some of the staff complained to me and said that we have been ordered to close them, without following the proper criteria of the commission, but rather on orders of the chairperson,’ she said.
She called for a forensic audit of the commission to establish the extent of the alleged irregularities.
Furniture purchase
On the Auditor General’s query concerning the diversion of funds, Ms Ejang admitted that she authorised the transfer of money originally earmarked for office renovation to purchase furniture.
She said the decision was made to address an urgent need for furniture at the commission, although she acknowledged that the expenditure was not originally budgeted for that purpose.
The committee chairperson, Mr Muwada Nkunyingi, directed parliamentary police and Criminal Investigations Directorate officers to provide protection to Ms Ejang after she told MPs she feared for her security.
‘We shall proceed and also interact with the chairperson and the commissioners on Monday at noon and we continue to interrogate the observation by the Auditor General. I think the evidence of the witness has been quite revealing. It gives us another line of investigation,’ Mr Nkunyingi said.
The committee is expected to question Ms Wangadya and other commissioners as it continues examining the Auditor General’s findings and the allegations raised by Ms Ejang.