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The African Development Bank has a decades-old track-record of being responsive to allegations of civil and human rights abuses in communities where projects are funded. This includes an Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM) that reviews and handles complaints.

The allegations contained in your letter were previously brought to the attention of the Bank, following which a request was made to the Government of Uganda for the conduct of a detailed investigation. We expect to receive the findings of this investigation in short order.

[... O]n 17 September 2021, the Director of the Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM) department, wrote to the organizations that had co-signed the open letter alleging violence and reprisal against Paten Clan community members, to make them aware of the Bank’s aforementioned complaints mechanism. The IRM Director informed these organizations that a formal complaint would be required for the Bank to conduct an independent investigation or intervene with other remedial action. This formal complaint to IRM is still being expected...