NUP asks EU ambassadors to gold gov’t accountable on aid

CLINTON MIRRORS AMPAIRE | National Unity Platform (NUP), has asked the European Union Ambassadors to hold the government accountable and closely monitor the aid being extended to the country.

The call was made on Friday by the NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi during a meeting with EU Ambassadors at the NUP Headquarters in Makerere Kavule.

The closed-door meeting was attended by ambassadors led by the Head of the EU Delegation to Uganda Ambassador Attilio Pacifici. In attendance were also the members of the NUP secretariat together with several NUP Members of Parliament.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Joel Ssenyonyi, the NUP Spokesperson said that they asked the Ambassadors to closely track the utilization of aid, citing cases of misappropriation by government officials.

Ssenyonyi said that the EU must ensure that the aid sent is not used for purposes contrary to its intended use.

Ssenyonyi also said that they have asked the European Union to task the government to account for the persistent abuse of human rights, including the torture and abduction of opposition supporters by state agents.

NUP leaders have several times claimed since 2020 that security agents have been kidnapping and torturing their supporters. Some of those who they claimed had been kidnapped eventually were taken to court and charged with a number of offenses while others they say have never been seen.

Speaking to journalists earlier in January 2023, Mariam Wangadya, the Uganda Human Rights Commission-UHRC chairperson accused the National Unity Platform-NUP of weaponizing abductions for political gain.

She said that NUP is spending a lot of energy in vilifying the commission yet they have done very little towards providing information that can lead to the recovery of the people they claim to have been abducted.