Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Chairperson Mariam Wangadya broke down emotionally on Thursday as she appeared before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), apologising to President Yoweri Museveni, Parliament and the country over the leadership crisis that has paralysed the constitutional body.
In an emotional submission, Wangadya admitted that the Commission had failed Ugandans and expressed regret over remarks she recently made to the public.
“Chairman and members, I was in the middle of apologizing to the country for the language I used, which I said is beneath my character. I am sorry to all those I offended, but please know I had been pushed to the edge. The people who know me know that is not my character,” Wangadya told MPs.
She said instead of executing her constitutional mandate of protecting and promoting human rights, she has spent months defending herself against allegations she insists are false.
“Today, honorable members, I should be supervising investigations. I should be reading files. I should be writing decisions or rulings. I should be constituting panels for tribunal sessions. I should be in the field hosting barazas, talking to refugees, interacting with stakeholders and addressing major human rights issues. Instead, I have spent the past five months defending myself,” she said.
According to Wangadya, the prolonged disputes within the Commission have prevented her from carrying out her responsibilities as chairperson.
“I have spent the past five months telling the media that I am not in hiding, that there is no investigation against me, that I am not a thief. I have spent the last five months being terrorized by the media, worrying about posts on X, TikTok and other social media platforms. Now I have to defend myself before committees of Parliament over what I consider false and petty accusations,” she said.
The visibly emotional chairperson accused some commissioners of abandoning their constitutional responsibilities in favour of what she described as a coordinated campaign to remove her from office.
“My full time job now is to defend myself against baseless, malicious and defamatory accusations. Meanwhile, the work of at least three members of the Commission is to conspire against the chairperson and one of their colleagues, orchestrate a smear campaign, lodge complaints at every investigative agency and do anything and everything to destroy her,” Wangadya said.
She questioned whether taxpayers were receiving value for money as internal wrangles consumed the Commission’s leadership.
Wangadya also reflected on her long public service, saying she had served as a commissioner for 17 years under former chairpersons Margaret Sekajja and the late Meddie Kaggwa before leading the institution herself.
“I could never have imagined that a head of an institution could be bullied, humiliated, harassed and disrespected to this extent,” she told the committee.
In one of the most emotional moments of the hearing, Wangadya suggested that the pressure had pushed her to contemplate resigning.
“I have been a single mother to my son since he was three weeks old. Soon he will be thirty years old. He has a wife and child, and I am their sole breadwinner. By the time a woman in my situation picks a pen, places it on paper and writes a letter resigning her job, she must be in unimaginable agony,” she said before committee members briefly interrupted over procedural concerns.
She concluded her submission with a public apology.
“On behalf of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, as currently constituted, I apologize to His Excellency the President, to this Parliament, to all the people of Uganda and all stakeholders. We have let you down.”
The appearance before COSASE comes amid one of the biggest crises in the history of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, with commissioners openly accusing one another of misconduct, abuse of office and poor governance.
The committee has been investigating the Auditor General’s report and the governance of the Commission after learning that no formal commission meeting had been held since March 2026, despite the law requiring regular meetings to oversee the institution’s work. MPs also heard that the Commission’s tribunal sessions, which hear human rights complaints, have largely stalled because only the chairperson can preside over them, leaving many cases pending.
The leadership crisis intensified after Wangadya publicly criticised President Museveni’s appointments to the Commission, arguing that some commissioners lacked the competence and integrity required for such an important constitutional institution. Shortly afterwards, she submitted a letter indicating her intention to resign from office.
However, Attorney General Sam Mayanja later informed Parliament that Wangadya remains the substantive UHRC chairperson because the letter she submitted amounted only to a notice of intention to resign and had not yet taken legal effect through acceptance by the appointing authority.
COSASE’s inquiry has also exposed broader concerns over governance, accountability and the functionality of the Commission, with legislators warning that the prolonged internal conflict risks undermining the country’s constitutional human rights watchdog at a time when it is expected to investigate rights violations, hear complaints and advise government on human rights matters.
