Former UHRC commissioner Katebalirwe dies at Mulago

The former commissioner of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Dr Katebalirwe Amooti wa Irumba is dead. He breathed his last at Mulago hospital in Kampala on Tuesday evening.

Katebalirwe was a commissioner at the UHRC, and in 2019 took up the position of acting chairman of the commission following the death of Med Kaggwa.

He was replaced by the current chairperson Mariam Wangadya in July 2021 following a presidential appointment. Media reports show that in December 2021, commission chairperson Wangadya expressed worry that Katebalirwe wasn’t coming to work and none of his support personnel had information on his whereabouts.

The chairperson is said to have made the remarks during a meeting commissioners had with United Nations agencies at Serena Hotel, Kigo. She was worried that Katebalirwe had cut contact and yet still had a running contract that was then to expire in February 2022.