Three Ugandan ruling party legislators have been charged with corruption for allegedly attempting to influence the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) to inflate its budget.
Despite rampant graft in Uganda, the prosecution of top officials, particularly those allied with President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, is uncommon. The three legislators, Mutembuli, Paul Akamba, and Cissy Namujju Dionizia, were charged with corruption late on Wednesday at the High Court in Kampala.
The charge sheet accuses the legislators of trying to influence the UHRC chairperson to inflate the organisation’s 2024/25 (July-June) budget. In return, they allegedly sought a 20% cut of the inflated budget.
“Mutembuli, Akamba, and Dionizia … solicited an undue advantage … by asserting that they were able to exert improper influence over the decision-making of the budget committee of the parliament of Uganda to increase the UHRC budget,” the charge sheet stated.
All three legislators pleaded not guilty and were remanded to a maximum-security prison. Asuman Basalirwa, one of the defense lawyers, argued that the charges could not be “categorised as grave” and requested bail for the accused.
Judge Joan Aciro remanded the legislators until June 14, when a ruling on the bail application will be made.
This case follows recent comments by President Museveni, who claimed to have received intelligence that some lawmakers were colluding with government officials to inflate departmental budgets in exchange for commissions. The opposition has long criticised Museveni’s administration for failing to prosecute top officials for corruption, accusing the government of prioritising political loyalty over public accountability.
Melissa Enoch
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