The government has failed to trace 365 National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters that were reported missing by the party last month.

Last Month, NUP’s vice president in charge of the central region, also MP Masaka municipality Mathias Mpuga, tabled before Parliament a list of names for 423 people that had been reported to NUP as missing by their relatives.

This was after internal affairs minister Gen. Jeje Odongo presented a list of 177 names of people that had been reported missing, that he said were in security custody.

NUP protested the list saying it was not satisfactory given the number of missing Ugandans, the majority of whom were not on the government’s list.

Odong chats with ministers David Bahati (left) and Peter Ogwang before plenary. Photo by Maria Wamala

The Party tasked the government to reconcile the list with that of NUP, to find the rest of the Ugandans that had been reported as missing.

However, in his statement to Parliament on Thursday, about NUP’s missing individuals, Odongo said out of the 423 reported missing persons by NUP, the government was able to identify only 58, leaving a balance of 365, whose whereabouts are unknown.

“Of the 423-person list presented by Honourable Mathias Mpuga, the 58 have been released or on remand, the 365 have not been verified because that list did not indicate time, location of arrest,” Odongo told Parliament.

According to Odongo, intelligence reports indicated that many of those that are still missing could be hiding in villages and other areas for fear of being arrested for various offences committed.