Ugandan activist, Agather Atuhaire has won the United States Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award.
“Agather Atuhaire is a renowned journalist, lawyer and social justice activist who advocates for human rights, public accountability, and the rule of law in Uganda,” said the U.S. State department in a statement.
“Her work as a journalist has brought to light parliamentary abuse of process and excess, threats to multi-party democracy and governance, health sector abuses, sexual harassment in the NGO sector, and violations of students’ rights.”
Established in 2007, the US Women of Courage award honours women from around the world who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in order to bring about positive change to their communities, often at great personal risk and sacrifice.
Atuhaire, a journalist cum lawyer has led several campaigns online to expose corruption by government officials.
She recently published documents which indicated that former Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga dubiously working with other commissioners awarded themselves huge amounts of money in what was termed as a service award.
Mpuuga personally took shs500 million, an act which has seen his party, the National Unity Platform ask him to resign from his position as a parliamentary commissioner.
According to the US government, Atuhaire’s work has garnered her a reputation as a trusted voice on matters of governance, accountability, and social justice in Uganda.
“Her dedication to alleviating suffering for others – sometime at great personal risk – has brought change to Ugandan institutions such as Parliament, National Water Corporation, Kampala Capital City Authority, Ministry of Health, and the Law Development Center to name a few,” said the U.S. State Department.
“As team leader at AGORA – a platform to foster public discourse, social justice, public accountability – her team continues to hold leaders accountable through evidence-based activism, reporting, and civic awareness.”
Atuhaire last year won the EU Human Rights Defenders Award 2022 for being a consistent human rights defender.
She was hailed for expressing courage in fighting for the rights of others.
