KAMPALA- The academic staff of Makerere University have warned that the planned move by the Government to merge the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) with Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) will lead to the final death of any attempts by Uganda to provide equal opportunities its people.
The warning was issued by Robert Kakuru, Chairperson, Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) while appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, to present the Association’s views on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2024 that seeks to merge the two Commissions into one; Uganda Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.
Kakuru argued that the merger of these institutions together under one umbrella would take away the mandate of the Equal Opportunities Commission, because as per Article 32 of the Constitution and Section 14 of the Equal Opportunities Act, the EOC is supposed to evaluate compliance with equal opportunities in all agencies including the Uganda Human Rights Commission.
This means that by taking it under one roof, it means that this time around, it can’t now check the UHRC because they are on the same level and that means that there is one organ that will not be checked because they are on the same level.
He said that the Equal Opportunities Commission is supposed to monitor and evaluate all these proposals because the Commission is supposed to undertake a review and inform Parliament on what it means for the issues of the Equal Opportunities but it is now fighting for its survival and it can’t ably do this.
Cue in……………Kakuru on merger
