The United States government has sanctioned four officers serving under the Uganda Police Force for defying human rights and regulations.
These sanctions were made public on October 2, 2024, in a statement made by the U.S. government State Department Spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
The police officers in question include Bob Kagarura, Wamala Regional Police Commander, and Alex Mwine, District Police Commander of Mityana; Elly Womanya, Senior Commissioner of the UPF; and Hamdani Twesigye, Deputy Inspector of Police.
“The reports that Kagarura, Twine, Womanya, and Twesigye were involved in gross violations of human rights, as documented by Ugandan Civil Court documents, Civil Society Organizations, and independent journalists, are serious and credible,” he stated.
The U.S. government further stated that Kagarura, Mwine, Womanya, Twesigye, and their immediate family members are generally ineligible for entry into the United States on grounds of human rights violations.
According to Miller, by designating four members of the Uganda Police Force (UPF), the U.S. Department of State is taking action to promote accountability for human rights violations committed in Uganda.
In the year 2020, Zaake Francis claimed that UPF officers under the command of Mityana District Police Commander, Alex Mwine, brutally beat him before tying him up and throwing him onto the back of a police pickup for violating COVID-19 guidelines.
