Gen Tumwine, MPs clash over safe houses

The Security minister, Gen Elly Tumwine, was yesterday kicked out of Parliament’s Committee of Human Rights after he said the legislators cannot access safe houses run by the Internal Security Organisation (ISO).

The MPs on the committee had asked the minister to provide locations of all the safe houses in Uganda, the law that allows their establishment, the kind of suspects being held there and whether they would be allowed to access them.

“We want you to explain to this committee why you are supervising torture and the illegal detention of Ugandans done by ISO on the orders of [Col] Kaka Bagyenda,” Kawempe North MP Latif Ssebagala said.

However, Gen Tumwine refused to give the locations of the safe houses, which the MPs say ISO has been using to torture innocent people.
Although he admitted that security agencies are running the safe houses, he denied that they are used for torture.

“They are used to coordinate clandestine intelligence operations. Intelligence is not gathered in public. You don’t just go to the middle of the road or in the media for intelligence gathering,” Gen Tumwine said.

However, the MPs insisted that the committee had the powers to visit any security installation, including safe houses, and described Gen Tumwine’s remarks as “nonsense.” In response, he said: “The parliamentary rules of procedure do not supersede the Constitution which gives separation of powers between Parliament, Executive and Judiciary.”

Kicked out
His statement enraged the MPs, especially Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, Soroti MP Angeline Osege and Mr Ssebagala, who said Gen Tumwine was disrespecting the committee.

“He wants to waste our time, he is trying to irritate us,” Ms Osege said.
The committee chairperson, Ms Jennifer Egunyu Nantume, then ordered the minister out of the committee.
As he walked out, Gen Tumwine accused the MPs of being hostile.
Earlier, Mr Ssebagala had read a list of people he claimed had been tortured by ISO.

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