Stephen Basaliza

Steven Mwesige Basaliza aka 'Omudumizi' is a retired Ugandan military officer, politician, human rights activist and public servant. He has held various significant positions, including serving as a Member of Parliament for Burahya county and as a Commissioner of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC).

Military career Basaliza's military career is marked by his involvement in the National Resistance Army (NRA) during Uganda's liberation struggle. He was a member of the Uganda Patriotic Movement, which later evolved into the NRA/NRM. During the NRA bush war, he served as a lieutenant and is remembered for driving President Yoweri Museveni, then a member of the Front for National Salvation (Fronasa), in his father Emmanuel Basaliza’s Mercedes Benz 220S Sedan.

He was part of a tribunal that heard a case involving the killing of Innocent Twinomujuni by two police officers in Kabale, Uganda. The tribunal, which also included Mariam Wangadya, Crispin Kaheru, and Lamex Omaro Apitta, found that the actions of the police officers were “arrogant, high-handed, criminal, oppressive, intentional, deliberate, wanton, arbitrary, and reprehensible.” The tribunal awarded Shs45 million to Twinomujuni’s family as compensation for the violation of his right to life.