The hidden truth: A critical examination of Uganda’s transitional justice legal and policy reforms on truth-seeking

Abstract

In the past, analyses of Uganda’s Transitional Justice legal and policy measures on truth-seeking have been focussed on evaluating the efficacy of a truth commission. However, being cognizant of the limitations entailed in taking that approach, this research adopts a more comprehensive examination of the problem, assessing the viability of all the known truth-seeking avenues and the opportunities they present in enabling Uganda to effectively address the challenge of enforcing accountability for past violations. The research uses a doctrinal study to demonstrate that even if Uganda were to adopt a truth commission as a truth-seeking initiative, there are no guarantees for its success. In fact, the research illustrates that, given the political context of there being no actual transition, a truth commission is more likely to fail and may only be used to achieve political rather than truth and justice objectives. Yet, the research finds that the current Transitional Justice discourse and the recent enactment of the National Transitional Justice Policy 2019 present good opportunity for the incorporation of traditional justice mechanisms into Uganda’s formal justice processes to enhance their truth-seeking capability.