Kampala, Uganda: Today, three Ugandan MPs sitting on the Budget committee of parliament have been charged before the Anti-corruption court and remanded to Luzira prison on charges relating to soliciting a 20% undue advantage from the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission Mariam Wangadya.
The remanded Mps are Yusuf Mutembule of Bunyoli East in Butaleja district, Paul Akamba of Busiki County in Namutumba District and Cissy Namujju ; the district Woman MP of Lwengo District.
The trio was arrested on Monday this week following a concern by president M7 that there are corrupt MPs who collude with officials from the Ministry of Finance during budgetary allocations. The accused MPs were then summoned and reported to the Criminal Intelligence Directorate in Kibuli before they were jailed up at Kira Police Divisional HQs where they were later taken for a search at their respective homes.
Today at about 2.45 PM, the two male Mps have been driven to the Nakasero based court in a police mini-bus while the lady Namujju has been brought in a police pick-up amidst tight security. Prosecution states those MPs; Mutembule, Akamba and Namujju on 13th/ May / 2024 at Hotel Africana solicited from Mariam Wangadya the Chairperson of UHRC, an undue advantage of 20% of the anticipated enhanced budget of her commission for the financial year 2024/ 2025.
These were asserting that they were able to exert improper influence over the decision making of the budget committee of parliament of Uganda to increase the commission budget, in consideration of the said undue advantage. They have however denied corruption charges before chief magistrate Joan Aciro and state prosecutor Kawooya Nicholas informed court that police investigations are still on-going.
Through their respective lawyers, the accused MPs applied to be released on bail after presenting their sureties including Mutibwa Derrick MP Bunyole West, Namukose Minsa Kirya a community development officer in Mukono municipal Council and a sister to MP Mutembule.
MP Paul Akamba has been introduced in court as a resident of Kyanja in Nakawa division and also presented his passport. He has further presented Nayigaga Mariam ; the Namutumba District woman MP , Robert Kasolo an MP of Ikiki County in Budaka District and Kibalya Henry MP Bugabula County South as his sureties.
For Donozia Cissy Namujju , a 46 year old woman MP and has presented Sentayi Muhammad Mp for Bukoto County West , Hassan Bulwadda ; the owner of Bulwadda clinic on Gayaza Road and her long business partner , Ssemwanga Javira ; MP Buyamba County in Rakai district to stand for her as sureties .
Their lawyers Asuman Basalirwa, Mwesigwa Caleb and Richard Rugambwa however put it to court’s attention that the suspects’ rights were breached as police held them incommunicado yet they were co-operative to the extent of voluntarily answering the summons and leading police to their residencies to conduct a search.
State prosecutor Nicholas Kawooya, however, objected to Namujju and Akamba’s bail application because they did not provide proof to inform letters written by Local Council ( LC) authorities from their respective residences as per the bail guidelines yet he needs ample time to verify the one presented by Mutembule.
Chief magistrate Aciro adjourned the case to 14th/ June for mention and ruling on whether the state should be given more time to verify the surety’s documents, If found culpable, the MPs face up to a ten years imprisonment term or a fine of 4.8m shillings.