Seven former senior officials of Parliament have been committed to the High Court Anti-Corruption Division for trial for alleged emblezzlement of nearly billion shillings in Parliamentary funds. The accused were on Monday committed by Grade One Magistrate Esther Asiimwe following the completion of investigations by the Inspectorate of Government.
State Attorney Daisy Acio, Supervisor of Prosecutions at the Office of the IGG informed the Court about the completion of investigations and also the decision to drop Stella Itute the Supervisor Sargent at Arms from the indictment pending her arrest as she remains at large.
Those committed therefore are former Parliament Director of Communications and Public Affairs Chris Ariko Obore, former Director of Human Resource Daniel Adilo, former Executive Secretary in the Office of the Speaker Leornard Okema former Principal Research Officer Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, former Principal Protocol Officer Okwi Emmanuel Emuron, former Capacity Development Officer Vincent Otebata and Methods Mureebe the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Parliamentary Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Limited, commonly known as Parliamentary SACCO.
The accused have been committed to face a string of nine charges arising from the handling of funds meant for donations, Corporate Social Responsibility activities and stakeholder engagements of Parliament between 2023 and May 2026. These charges include causing financial loss, embezzlement and money laundering all of which are triable by the High Court.
According to the summary of the evidence presented by the Inspectorate of Government, the prosecution will seek to prove that Obore, who served as Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Parliament during the period in question, received a total of 5.2531 billion Shillings for donations and Corporate Social Responsibility activities but neither implemented the activities nor returned the money to Parliament.
Adilo, who was Director of Human Resource, is alleged to have received 14.11075 billion Shillings and Okema, who served as Executive Secretary in the Office of the Speaker, allegedly received 3.8billion Shillings for the same purposes but did not implement the activities nor refund the money.
The prosecution further alleges that Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, who served as Principal Research Officer, received 1.870108 billion Shillings, while Okwi, who served as Principal Protocol Officer, allegedly received 1.105 billion Shillings meant for the donations and Corporate social responsibility activities but didn’t do anything or refund the monies.
On the other hand, Otebata who served as Capacity Development Officer, is separately accused of receiving 502.534 million Shillings meant for fuel, subsistence allowances and transport refunds for external participants in a central-region stakeholder engagement exercise. The prosecution alleges that the activity was not implemented and the money was not returned to Parliament.
The Inspectorate of Government alleges that collectively, the six Parliament officials received 26.805, 892 billion Shillings for donations, Corporate Social Responsibility and engagement activities of Parliament but failed to implement the activities, knowing or having reason to believe that their actions would cause financial loss to the Government of Uganda.The prosecution further alleges that the actions indeed caused financial loss of 26.805892 billion Shillings to the Government.
Obore is also facing a separate allegation relating to 2.578 billion Shillings which he was allegedly charged with managing for donations and Corporate Social Responsibility activities at Parliament.
The prosecution alleges that Obore knowingly furnished false accountabilities for the money.
The case also brings the Parliamentary SACCO into the alleged transactions, with its Chief Executive Officer, Mureebe accused of assisting some of the Parliament officials to benefit from what the prosecution describes as proceeds of crime disguised as personal loans or savings.
According to the prosecution, Mureebe allegedly assisted all his co accused to benefit from the alleged proceeds. The five Parliament officials are further accused of jointly acquiring, possessing, using and administering 10.497742 billion Shillings disguised as personal loans or savings through the Parliamentary SACCO, knowing at the time of receipt that the money was proceeds of crime.
The prosecution case summary indicates that the alleged transactions took place while the accused were holding their respective positions at Parliament and the Parliamentary SACCO. Meanwhile, prosecutors have dropped Stella Itute, who was formerly listed as A6, from the charge sheet and she is not included in the indictment committed to High Court. During the proceedings, lawyer Asuman Basalirwa, who was representing Itute, told court that he had lost contact with her.
Prosecutors subsequently informed court that Itute had been removed from the charge sheet and was no longer part of the indictment.However, Itute remains a person being sought by investigators. The prosecution says it has completed its investigations and will rely on evidence from a wide range of institutions and alleged beneficiaries to prove the case before the High Court.
Among the institutions from which witnesses are expected are the Parliamentary Commission, Parliament of Uganda, Uganda Parliamentary Cooperative Savings and Credit Society, Bank of Uganda, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Centenary Bank, Absa Bank, DFCU Bank, Stanbic Bank, Cairo Bank Uganda Limited and the Inspectorate of Government.
The prosecution will also call witnesses from the Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory and the Uganda Police Force.
Other witnesses are expected to include alleged beneficiaries of the Parliamentary donations and Corporate Social Responsibility programmes from several districts across the country.The districts listed in the prosecution case summary include Bukedea, Ngora, Kumi, Serere, Pallisa, Mbale, Kole, Kitgum, Amuru, Agago, Amudat, Amuria, Katakwi, Gulu, Moroto, Mukono, Buikwe, Rakai, Arua, Koboko, Yumbe, Moyo, Adjumani, Madi Okollo, Soroti and Kapelebyong, among others.
The prosecution also says that it will rely on documentary evidence to support its allegations. This includes employment records for the accused persons, approved budgets for the Parliamentary Commission Vote 104 for the financial years 2022/2023 to 2025/2026, requisitions that doubled as payment vouchers and accountability documents attached to some of the payment vouchers.
The prosecution will also produce personal loan agreements between the accused persons and the Parliamentary SACCO.
Other financial evidence includes the Bank of Uganda statement for the Parliamentary Commission Operations Account, the Parliamentary SACCO account held at Cairo Bank, IFMS payment registers for the Parliamentary Commission for the financial years 2022/2023 to 2025/2026 and the payment register for Parliament’s Treasury Single Account.
The prosecution has further listed bank statements of the accused persons from DFCU Bank, Absa Bank, Cairo Bank and Stanbic Bank, as well as bank inspection orders and waste cheques from the respective financial institutions.
The state also says Correspondence from the Clerk to Parliament and loan documents from the Parliamentary SACCO will also be tendered in Court as evidence.
The case file further contains a request dated June 19, 2026, a letter dated July 20, 2026 from CPA Sarah Magoola of the Inspectorate of Government to Fredrick Oketch, Manager at the Inspectorate’s Anti-Corruption Directorate, concerning an audit report into donations and Corporate Social Responsibility expenditure of the Speaker of the 11th Parliament.
The prosecution will also rely on the audit report covering the period 2023 to 2026, as well as a second volume specifically addressing alleged false accounting and misappropriation by Mr Obore.
An expert opinion from a forensic document examiner of the Uganda Police Force is also expected to form part of the prosecution evidence, following a request made by the IG on June 26, 2026.
The evidence signed by IGG Lady Justice Aisha Naluzze Batala also lists accountability documents allegedly presented by Obore as part of the evidence the Inspectorate intends to adduce before the High Court to show how he allegedly did a falsified account.
The Inspectorate of Government says it will contend at trial that the accused persons have no valid defence or lawful excuse to the charges and will ask the High Court to convict them after the prosecution has presented its evidence.
The committal by the magistrate now clears the way for the case to proceed to the High Court Anti-Corruption Division, where the prosecution will have to prove the allegations against each accused person beyond reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile Judge Michael Elubu is expected to decide on the bail applications for the accused persons on September 9th, 2026. Until then, all the accused persons will remain in Luzira prison-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
