New Bill to curb sexual harassment at places of work

Human Resource Management Association of Uganda outgoing president Patrick Ngolobe handing over instruments of power to the incoming president Moses Mbubi Witta at a ceremony held at Serena Kampala Hotel.

Human resource managers have called for the enactment of the Human Resource Bill 2016 to curb sexual harassment at places of work.

The call to expedite the passing of the Bill follow an outcry by the secretaries under their umbrella body, Association of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals (ASAPU) in Uganda who complain of sexual harassment and advances at work and appealed to government to prevail over their bosses to end the vice.

According to ASAPU, the secretaries are subjected to suggestive annotations, inappropriate touches and direct sexual demands from their bosses.

A Uganda Human Rights Defenders Association (UHRDA) survey carried in 2013 in 2,910 organizations indicates that 90 percent of women are sexually harassed at places of work by their male seniors.

The study was carried out in companies, financial institutions, churches, health centres, universities, and in other settings.

As a result, women activists in Uganda in 2104 embarked on a nationwide campaign against sexual harassment at workplaces.

The campaign organized under the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) is supported by the Dutch government.

Some of more than 300 secretaries, both from the public and private sector, drawn from all regions across the country during a training of secretaries on skills development that took place in Kampala recently reported to the minister of public service, Muruuli Mukasa that their bosses make advances and others force them into sex against their will.

They said their jobs are at a risk because their bosses threaten to sack them if they do not heed to their demands which affects their career.

At the swearing in of the new governing council of the Human Resource Managers Association of Uganda (HRMAU) at Kampala Serena Hotel, the newly elected president Moses Mbubi Witta noted the Bill if passed will address such problems.

"When passed, we will be able to have certified members of the profession working in the different institutions so competence and professional conduct are regulated and easily monitored. This will reduce on a lot of malpractice that has tainted the profession- from sexual harassment to nepotism and corruption," Mbubi noted.

The Human Resource Bill seeks to establish standards of professional competence and practice in the profession.

An institute will be established to ensure proper training and development of all human resource professionals and it will also handle any disciplinary issues that may arise.

The HRMAU is led by a team of Eleven (11) human resource professionals called the governing council. The team serves a two-year term and can be re-elected into office but with a maximum leadership tenure of four years (two terms).

The new governing council


•    President                                                   Moses Mbubi Witta
•    Vice President                                             Gloria Tibakunirwa
•    Secretary General                                      Joseph Ajal
•    Director Finance                                         Bob Trubish
•    Director Public Relations                              Juliet Mpiima
•    Director Professional Development               Mary Lilian Nabunya
•    Director Programmes                                  Eva Lubowa
•    Committee Member                                      Dennis Mugisha
•    Committee Member                                      Luke Kisubi
•    Committee Member                                     Joyce Uwitonze
•    Committee Member                                    Walusimbi Shamim