The National Unity Platform (NUP) party has opted for the courts of law to find a solution to the long-lasting issue of missing persons.
While speaking to the press after filing a habeas corpus petition at the High Court Civil Division at Twed Towers in Kampala on January 30, 2024, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP) and NUP Party Spokesperson, Joel Ssenyonyi, said that they have tried Parliament and the Uganda Human Rights Commission and will continue trying all avenues present.
“We said we would come to court as well because it’s important that every avenue available on the table gets used,” he said.
Ssenyonyi is hopeful that the court is helpful in resolving the issue at hand since it has stalled for over four years.
“So our hope is that the court will issue an order because, you see, there’s no doubt about who has these fellows. I hope that the court will pronounce itself on this matter and say that these missing persons should be produced by the state, dead or alive,” Ssenyonyi added.
In October 2023, the Uganda Human Rights Commission closed files of inquiry into the documented 18 missing persons who the NUP leaders alleged to have been kidnapped by the security forces prior to and after the 2021 general elections.
The standoff between the Uganda Human Rights Commission was later followed by opposition Members of Parliament boycotting Parliamentary sessions after asking the government to offer an explanation into the missing persons allegations, which the government hadn’t given an answer to.
With the members of the opposition showing dissatisfaction with the government report on the missing persons, the National Unity Platform President, Robert Kyagulanyi, while addressing journalists on January 23, 2024, said that there are still many options to consider to demand the missing persons, and among them were court action and civil disobedience.nexus
