Primah Kwagala Namudiba

Primah lives in a community where everyone is affected by HIV/AIDS. The quality of health care, however, is far from adequate. Part of the problem is the lack of access to information of the services that are available, but also the inability to hold service providers accountable to people. The desire to see people go out to seek and receive basic health care when they need it is what pushed her into human rights. She wants to see positive change in the lives of people in the community she lives in. That cannot happen if “we choose to stay silent.” She asserts, “Human rights work offers me the space to demand for what is rightfully ours.”

As a first-born girl child in a patriarchal society where entitlements such as inheritance, land rights and higher education are a “privilege,” Primah knows what injustice means. Because of her passion for justice and equality, all throughout her school days she sought leadership positions for the purpose of speaking out for marginalized students at school including those who couldn’t afford a change of school clothes, physically disabled students and students with HIV.

Primah says she learned to engage policy and law makers in dialogue to bring about change in her society. “It is not always because they want to hurt us,” she said, “but they need to be educated on what should be done.” According to her, dialogue has changed the person she is and shaped her vision for a free world. She believes that there is hope. When she goes to work, she sees positive change in the communities as a result of her work. Because of her lobbying and advocacy, she has been able to ensure that medicine is always available at healthcare facilities in her community. She said, “Saving lives makes me want to do more every day.”

She pointed to corruption in her country as a big challenge. Funds for medicine are very often misused or, in some instances, reported lost. “It makes my heart bleed,” she says. The delays in the justice system in Uganda also trouble her. When litigating or doing advocacy for a case in court for years, it makes clients lose hope in the search for justice. In her opinion, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” For her, the government should always find a way to quickly deal with human rights cases.

Reflecting on HRAP, she said that she could not wait to go back to apply her newly acquired skills. She credits Robert Levy, U.S. Magistrate Judge of the Eastern District of New York, who mentored her while she was in HRAP, for inspiring her to become a judge in her country. “By attending hearings and participating in meetings with court personnel,” she said, “I have now a solid understanding of the American justice system.” In her view, becoming a judge can enable her to advocate for policy change from within.

Interview by 2010 Advocate Bakary Tandia of the USA

April 2017 Update: Primah is now a Program Manager for Strategic Litigation Programs at the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development.

Updated by Gabrielle Isabelle Hernaiz-De Jesus in 2017.